Shin Megami Tensei: Dysangelion
by Lichte
Summary: 2000 years ago, the Dark Knight Sparda took up his sword and fought the legions of Hell to save the humans. Now, another world exists just beyond most of humanity's perception. And although the people wish to remain ignorant, Heaven's Judgment has begun.
1. Prologue and the Mandatory Arrival BS

**Demi-Children**

_Prologue_

Yui Ikari was in a bar, drunk. While this in itself was not unusual, the fact that the man sitting across from her was not her husband, but a white haired man with a blue coat, was. Well, not so surprising to those who knew some of Gendo's less savory habits, but that isn't important right now. What was important was the fact that Yui Ikari committed one single act of indiscretion during her marriage, and in doing so, either damned or saved the world, depending on who you ask.

Two weeks later, the nature of the world was changed when the members of the Katsuragi Expedition impaled the being known as 'Adam' with the Lance of Longinus.

As Misato Katsuragi sat in the escape pod her father placed her in, the nature of her body was altered. After all, one can't expect to stay near the disintegrating body of a powerful demon without some effects.

It would be three years before she spoke another word and two more before she learned to ignore the things she had begun to see.

* * *

_2005_

It was a common observation that Shinji Ikari was a strange child. After all, he often seemed to act as someone who had a great deal of life experience, rather than the five year old child he was. In addition, he didn't have normal parents like all the other children. After his mother had died under 'mysterious circumstances,' his father had dropped him off at the small town's train station with directions to an uncle's home.

That uncle had been dead for three years. Young Shinji was then taken to a local orphanage, which failed to contact the man who had taken up the name Gendo Ikari, though not through any lack of effort on their part. The only response they ever received was a message from his secretary, saying "Mr. Ikari is a very busy man, and cannot be bothered with such trivial matters."

The demeanor of the child made finding friends difficult, and in 2007, a year after his arrival, he had only the most casual acquaintances.

Incidentally, the boy was also the only one to survive without a scratch after the orphanage blew up in 2008. While some would view this as a miracle, there were others in town who believed that the boy was responsible, and a single man with brown hair that knew what had actually happened. He broke into the hospital the boy was kept at, leaving tattoos that looked like padlocks on the back, forehead, and palms of the child.

Only the marks on the hands were visible.

_

* * *

_

2010

"Get back here you little bastard!"

'_Why am I the only one who ever gets chased around like this?'_ wondered a ten year old Shinji Ikari.

After the explosion at the orphanage, the quality of the town had gone straight to hell (literally). Though few were actually aware of their presence, Demons had been moving around in this shit-hole town for the past two years. There were a few who believed that since Shinji had been unscathed in the incident, he was responsible; so he'd grown accustomed to running and being beaten. However, this was the first time anyone had ever come after him with a knife.

Unfortunately, the resulting panic from this unexpected situation meant that he forgot that the alley he turned into was a dead-end.

"Got you now you little fuck!" The man who had followed Shinji was obese, old, and probably drunk, given the swagger in his step. "You're gonna pay for what you did, yes you will!" The man placed his knife against the shaking child's neck. "You killed my daughter with that little show you put on a couple of years ago; and now you're gonna pay!" The drunkard slashed the child's neck, and then drew his arm back and stabbed him in the heart.

As Shinji's eyes rolled back in his head, he heard a voice. **"Do you want to live? Or would you prefer to die here in the back of this alley?"**

Unable to speak, the child could only think _'YES! I want to LIVE!'_

The thought was enough of an answer to the voice, and the padlock tattoos on his palms opened as if a key had been turned. Black lines began to spread away from them, climbing his arms up to his shoulders. And, for the first time in two years, the mark on his forehead was visible.

The trembling boy rose, and his wounds began to heal. Once his vocal cords had knitted themselves back together, he spoke in a raspy voice far different than the high pitched one expected of a child his age. "I… refuse to… take the blame… for something that was… not done by my will… nor will I deny that I there is a debt owed by my family. But…" and here his voice turned truly demonic. "**You chose to blame a little child, who had no hand in what happened, for her death. So now you will die instead.**"

As the child's normally grey eyes flashed a dark blue, he forced his right arm through the man's heart.

Two years later, Shinji had changed very much. He had learned how to consciously open the locks on his hands, which he'd learned held back his demonic power.

'_Damned useful too,'_ thought the boy. _'I can't suppress my power worth shit.'_

Rarely bothering to show up for his school classes, Shinji Ikari was generally considered a delinquent. It didn't matter that the people he fought were always the ones that started it, there just wasn't anyone in the town who considered the kid worth giving a damn about. The only people he would deliberately start a fight with were usually abusing someone else.

Hearing someone say, "Things like you don't deserve to live in this world!" Shinji ran into an alley.

Three guys, probably in high school, were kicking the body of a little girl on the ground. Well this will not end well.

For them.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Had the young men looked away from their task, one of them might have gotten away. Instead, they failed to notice the young boy until a tattooed arm slammed against the back of the big one's head.

"Who the fuck-" The second one was silenced as Shinji's other fist was violently introduced to his stomach.

Placing his foot on the now kneeling man's shoulder, Shinji allowed the man's face to become better acquainted with the ground as he jumped to kick the last one in the face. As the last one was slammed against the wall, Shinji kneeled down to check the girl. "You all right?"

The child seemed surprised that another person could see her, though her wounds were already healing. Now it was Shinji's turn to be surprised, though he was able to suppress it. _'She must be like me…'_ "You have anywhere to go?"

"No… But I'll be fine. I've been alone a long time."

'_I guess she really is like me.'_ "My apartment isn't far from here. You have a place to stay?"

The girl looked at him in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

After collecting the students' wallets, Shinji spoke again. "My name's Shinji. Who're you?"

For the first time since he saw her, the girl smiled. "I'm Alice."

* * *

Actual Chapter

Over the next couple of years, the two developed a strong bond, which eventually evolved into a demon blood contract. Shinji had now taken Alice in as if she was a sister, and she in turn thought of him as an elder brother. From Alice, Shinji learned to control many more of his demonic powers, as well as the politics of the demonic plane, Makai. While Shinji and Alice both felt that balance between the factions of Law and Chaos would be better for everyone, they did not want to grow involved. However, this did not stop them from doing whatever they could so they would be able to defend themselves.

However, their dysfunctional but happy life crashed down around them when Shinji received the first contact from Gendo Ikari in ten years. A piece of paper, with a single word written on it, 'Come.' Not 'please' or 'sorry', just 'Come.' Though Shinji had intended to ignore the letter and carry on with his life, Alice convinced him to go.

"He might be dying. Do you really want to risk not being the one to make that happen?"

So now, a fourteen year old boy in a black trench coat who looked sixteen was standing in front of a phone next to a seemingly twelve year old pale girl in a blue dress. "You feel it too, don't you Alice?"

"Yeah, this whole town is soaked with demonic energy. I can't even tell where it's coming from." Had any normal human been observing, they would only have heard what Shinji was saying, and thought he was talking to himself. Normies couldn't see full demons like Alice.

Sure that there was going to be a major fight, Shinji opened the seal on his hands, though because of his sleeves, gloves, and long bangs, there was no indicator he had done anything other than the spike in his demonic energy.

With his senses somewhat sharper than they had been, he was able to sense the same presence Alice had turned toward. The two children saw a girl in a school uniform standing in the street. She didn't look normal, but that was the status quo the other two had grown accustomed to. Her skin had almost no color, and her hair was a light blue. But the thing that drew Shinji's attention was her eyes. A blood red that seemed to be giving off a slight glow.

'_She isn't giving off enough energy to be the same one we were feeling, but if she's working with it…'_ Shinji's thoughts on the girl were cut short as she disappeared. "Alice…"

"I know Shinji. That wasn't the actual being that we just saw, only a projection."

Both Shinji and Alice froze for a moment just before they heard it. Footsteps of a giant were drawing near. As they turned, a green behemoth came from behind a building, surrounded by UN VTOLs.

Alice spoke her concerns. "There's no way we can fight something like this." Fighting a team of Dominions or even Thrones would be preferable to the thing before them.

"Running would be the wise thing to do." Was the response.

With a speed enhancing spell from Alice and Shinji's innate physical ability unlocked, they turned and ran as fast as they could. While Alice was focusing on keeping her Sukukaja active, Shinji had enough free space in his mind to think. _'But how is the conventional military even able to make an effort against that thing? Normal people can't see demons, no matter what they do to the things around them, but they're able to fire on it.'_

The pair hadn't been running for long when a car came screeching around a corner in their path.

As she saw two children jump over her incoming car, Misato Katsuragi was currently wondering how that they did it, and if that was actually the kid from the file. Turning the car around, she drove after the kids. Accelerating to match the speed they were running at, Misato was unable to suppress her surprise at the fact that the car was moving 40 km/h. However, all she actually did was roll down the window and shout "Get in!"

Gesturing for the girl to go first, Shinji allowed Alice to scramble through the window before jumping onto the roof of the car, then swinging through after her.

The woman inside looked at the pair carefully, then offered a weak "I'm sorry" followed by "were you waiting long?"

As Shinji rubbed his forehead in a way that allowed his padlock to be seen through his bangs, Misato wondered where the boy had gotten a tattoo before he said "I hate the big city."

Misato looked at him like he was insane (GUILTY!), while Alice just laughed from the backseat.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki were receiving some disturbing information as the JSSDF Generals bitched about not being able to hurt the Angel.

Lt. Maya Ibuki's face was displayed on a screen where only Ikari and his Sub-Commander would be able to see and hear her. _"The Magi have detected two powerful readings moving away from the Angel."_

Fearing even the slightest deviation in the precious 'Scenario,' the Commander of NERV immediately asked. "Is it a Blue Pattern?"

"_No sir, the Magi are having trouble getting any kind of a reading at all. They're almost smothered by the energy given off by the Angel, and what we do have seems to be fluctuating between Orange, Red, and Black."_ The respective patterns for Evas, Pilots, and the type of pattern that had only been recorded from Lilith.

"Catalogue all information available on those two, and track it if possible."

"_Yes sir."_

"Will this pose a problem, Ikari?"

"No. Now, we should wait for them to use their last resort."

They didn't have much time to wait, as the JSSDF ordered the use of an N2 Mine on the Angel.

* * *

"Pretty lights…"

Despite the fact that Shinji and Alice did not have the protection of sunglasses as Misato did, all three had been staring at the explosion. Alice, for the reason she already stated; Misato, to observe the effect it would have on the Angel; and Shinji, in rage at the incompetency the military was displaying.

'_How many people just lost their homes and jobs because of that? They could have done the same amount of damage to that thing with any single one of the army's Devil Summoners, and they wouldn't have needed to do so much reconstruction.'_

The two highest members of NERV were currently enduring the gloating of the JSSDF.

"Are you two okay?" Shinji was somewhat shocked at the statement from the woman who was now climbing out the window. Saying 'two' meant she was able to see Alice.

Responding for the pair, Alice responded "We've both been worse."

At that comment, Shinji's thoughts grew somewhat cynical. _'Yeah, getting tossed around a little is nothing compared to having your throat slashed and heart pierced.'_ Once he'd followed the other two out the window, he looked at the condition the car was now in. "Well, first thing's first."

Assuming that Shinji was going to return the car to it's proper position relative to the ground, Misato braced herself against the roof of the vehicle before shouting "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" as Shinji walked to the other side. However, her tirade was cut short as the two elevated wheels of the car were slowly lowered back to the ground.

The boy on the other side of the car simply turned to her with a slight grin on his face. "Should we try and get this thing running, or would you prefer I just carry you the rest of the way?"

Misato regained her composure, thanking the boy and then deciding to forget she'd seen anything. "Oh yeah, who's she?" Pointing her thumb over at Alice. "I was just told to pick you up."

Thinking that the truth wouldn't be a good idea, Shinji came up with a lie on the spot. "That's Alice, my adopted sister. We weren't expecting so much excitement." _'Well, it's not a TOTAL lie…"_

"It's fine." _'Though it might make things at the base a little more complicated.'_

Unfortunately, the car was no longer functioning properly. "Do you know how to get this running Miss Katsuragi?"

Shinji did not like the look in Misato's eyes as she looked at the nearby garage.

* * *

Gendo Ikari was now looking at the screen displaying that the Angel was still active.

His elderly companion commented "As we suspected, it's regenerating."

The glasses wearing man replied "Without that ability, it wouldn't be a practical autonomous invasion weapon."

"Yes, it's even updated its operational parameters." The Sub-Commander was referring to the fact that the Angel had not allowed any more aircraft to get near it. "It should resume its attack soon."

* * *

Misato disconnected the phone she had been speaking on. _'This stinks. I just got this car fixed and now it's a total wreck… 33 more payments to go… Plus the cost of repairs!'_

"Miss Misato?" Shinji was ignored as Misato continued thinking.

'_And look! My favorite dress is ruined… Ruined! And I looked so good in it…"_

"Excuse me, Misato?" Alice was more successful in attempting to gain the woman's attention.

"Ah, what is it Alice?"

The smaller girl gestured to the other contents of the backseat. "These batteries. Isn't that illegal?"

A small vein bulged on Misato's forehead before replying. "Oh, um, well, don't worry about it. It's an emergency and we needed a working car, right?" The woman was clearly thinking very fast in an effort to justify stealing the batteries. "And I am a government official after all, so everything's going to be perfectly fine, okay? Ok!"

"But… did we really need so many?" Was the almost innocent sounding reply.

"She's right Misato; I don't think anyone will believe that excuse."

"Oh, you two aren't any fun."

"And I expected you to be a little more mature than th-AHH!" Shinji was cut off as Misato started swerving.

They eventually arrived in what appeared to be an underground parking garage, at least until their space started to move. _'This place must have a lot of money flowing into it for stuff like this.'_

"So, is this where Gendo Ikari works?" Alice asked.

Shinji clenched his leather clad fist as Misato cheerfully replied "Yep. This is NERV; a secret organization controlled by the U.N." Turning to Shinji, she asked "Don't you know what your father does?"

He had to restrain himself from opening the lock on his forehead at her comment. His reply was in a very low voice. "I haven't spoken with that man in years, and he has no right to the title 'Father' or the name 'Ikari.' Don't call him by either in my presence."

Misato couldn't help but envy the boy; at least he knew exactly how he felt about his father. She on the other hand, wasn't sure if she loved or hated hers.

"Well, welcome to the Geofront. It's our secret headquarters, and the key to rebuilding our world. A fortress to protect all of mankind."

Shinji couldn't help but acknowledge the voice this time_**. 'No place for **_**things**_** like us then, eh?' **_

'_Perhaps...'_

* * *

"We're turning command of the operation over to you. Prove NERV is capable."

The commander of the aforementioned group simply said "Yes, sir" without a hint of emotion.

"The target is still stationary" reported Lt. Maya Ibuki.

Her fellow technician Makoto Hyuga continued on, "Our current intercept capability is only 7.5%."

Without looking at his subordinates, the bearded man asked, "And what of the other two readings?"

"We lost track of them after they dropped the N2; the last scan indicated that they were approaching our location."

"What are you planning to do Ikari?" asked his second in command.

The commander adjusted his orange sunglasses before replying, "Activate Unit One."

"Activate it? But we have no pilot."

As the platform he was standing on began to lower, he said "A spare has just been delivered."

'_I just hope you can convince the boy to do this. And that the boy can win."_

* * *

"We've been through here before."

"What makes you say that Shinji?" The young man just pointed ahead to where Alice was modifying a NERV logo with a can of black spray-paint. Where it had once said 'God is in his heaven, all is right with the world', it now said 'God is in his heaven, we're fucked.' It looked like it would have taken a few minutes. "Oh."

"I say we let Alice lead us around now. Your sense of direction obviously sucks, and honestly mine is only marginally better." Usually if Shinji got lost, he'd just knock down walls until he found himself in a place he recognized.

The young girl directed them towards an elevator, which opened to reveal a blond woman clad in a swimsuit.

"You're late, Captain. Don't you realize that we're short on both time and manpower?"

The bodacious captain replied, "Um, sorry Rits…"

The dye-job just sighed before turning to the only male present. "So, is this the boy?"

The captain responded "Yep! According to the Marduk Report, he's the third child."

The scientist then turned to the young girl standing next to the young man in question. "And who is she?"

"Her name is Alice. She's my sister." _'The only two people we've met since we arrived have been able to see Alice. This can't be a coincidence, can it?'_

Akagi sighed in annoyance before turning back to the captain. "Misato, I shouldn't have to remind you about security protocols, now why didn't you just drop this girl in a shelter?" Though she was whispering, anger was clearly evident in her voice.

However, she wasn't quite quiet enough, as Shinji said, "If this place has security poor enough for an escorted twelve year old girl to be seen as a threat, I have to wonder where the tax-payers money went." Actually, it would be very normal to fear Alice, but the two women before him didn't know that they should be afraid of her.

Instead of making an effort to defend NERV, the 'good' doctor simply sighed, telling them to get into the elevator.

A few minutes later, the group had left the elevator in favor of a boat ride down a river of coolant. "So, how's Unit One coming?"

"It's currently undergoing refrigeration using the B-Type equipment." The doctor appeared to have calmed down since first seeing Alice, who was doing very well at pretending to be an innocent twelve year old kid.

"But will it really work? I mean, it never has before, right?"

"The probability of activation is point zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-nine. We just call it the oh nine system."

"Does that mean it doesn't work?"

"Don't be insulting. It's 'oh nine', as in 'oni.'" The two silent 'children' just looked at each other and grinned.

"Well, I suppose it's a little late to say 'Sorry it doesn't work.'"

They eventually found themselves in a pitch black room, with the door shut behind them. Well, a normal person wouldn't be able to see, but Shinji and Alice weren't exactly normal. As such, they weren't taken by surprise when the lights revealed a giant purple head.

Of course, in such a situation you have to say "What the fuck?" whether you were unaware, or if you, like Shinji, were already aware of its presence.

"This is Evangelion Unit Zero One. The ultimate humanoid fighting weapon, and the last hope of humanity."

Shinji answered the doctor with another question, though it wasn't directed at her, but instead the man standing in an observation room above the head. "So, this thing is what you've been working on?"

"Correct. It's been a long time." The man's voice was still just as cold as the last time they met.

"Well, I guess I might be here because you're dying, but if that had been the case, the card would have said 'Rejoice.' So, is this part of some twelve step program?"

The elder man ignored Shinji, saying "We're moving out."

"Moving out? But Unit Zero is still in cryo-stasis! Wait, you're going to use Unit One!?"

Ritsuko responded in a deadpan voice. "That's correct, Misato."

"But Rei can't do it yet, can she? We don't have a Pilot!"

"We've just received one." Was the cold response.

"You're serious."

The doctor turned towards the Third Child. "Shinji Ikari, you will pilot it."

"Are you crazy! Even Rei Ayanami took seven months to synchronize with her Eva! There's no way he can do it!"

"He just has to sit in the seat Misato. We aren't expecting anything more than that."

"One hundred million yen."

"What?"

Shinji pulled out a cigarette and took a drag before repeating, "One hundred million yen. That is my price for this."

"Fine, I'll write you a check later." Was the response given by Nerv Central's Commander.

"I want cash."

"You're lucky I'm even considering giving you anything for this. I'm your father, and you Will do as I comma-" Hearing his statement, Shinji moved faster than any eyes in the room save Alice's and his own were able to see. Alice saw Shinji jump to the top of the horn on the giant head, using it as a platform to jump to the observation window.

The others merely knew that one second Shinji was standing on the catwalk, and the next, he had his fist through the observation room's bullet-proof Plexiglas and wrapped around the Commander's neck.

'_And he did it with only the first level of the seal open. A year ago, he would have only just made that at level two.'_

"You don't get to call yourself that. You denied the title of 'father' years ago; don't try to appeal to me by using it." He released the man, using his legs to push himself away from the window and landing on the catwalk. "I'm waiting for your answer."

The man above addressed a terminal on his right. "Rei, our spare is unusable. You will do it again."

Down below, the Project-E Chairwoman began shouting orders. "Reconfigure Unit One for Rei, then activate!"

'_**What the hell are you doing!? Can't you feel the kind of power that thing has? Pretend to submit to his will, then take its power and leave!"**_

'_I'm not like you. I refuse to whore myself out to gain power.'_

While she didn't agree with the demon within Shinji's reasons, Alice did believe that he should pilot it. She ran forward and grabbed his arm. "What do you think you're doing!?"

He looked down at her. "He wants someone to do a job. I named a price, he refused to pay it, so he'll find someone else. Surely there's someone else here."

"Damnit, Shinji. You are not going to throw away humanity just for the sake of a pissing match with him!"

As Alice finished her shouting, the doors Shinji had been moving towards opened, revealing a young girl wrapped in bandages.

"See Alice? They have someone else who can do it. You saw her, just as I did. If she can't win, then it's their own fault for making such poor decisions." _'I shouldn't get involved with this. There's no reason for me to. But, why hasn't this girl regenerated yet?'_

However, as Shinji reached the doors, another attack by the Angel shook the room, causing the wounded girl to fall off her gurney. _'Don't get yourself involved.'_

Another strike knocked a steal beam loose from the ceiling, directly above the girl. Without stopping to think, Shinji allowed the second level of his seal to open, causing lines similar to those on his arms to form all over his body. He found himself ready to knock the beam away with his arms raised, but the beam never reached him. Instead, it was knocked away by the raised arm of the Eva, coincidently right through the damaged barrier, inches away from the NERV commander's head.

_'So, you're sentient after all,' _thought Shinji,_ 'Well, you certainly know how to start a negotiation.'_

Looking up and revealing the markings that had spread across his face, all over his body in fact, he said "I'll do it."

Above, Gendo smirked.

* * *

A few minutes later, Shinji was sitting inside the steel tube inserted into the Eva's back. As he enjoyed the enhancement to his sensing ability given by the A10 clips, he found himself wondering, _'Is this what it's like for Alice?'_ until the metal tube began to fill with an orange sludge.

"What the hell is this!?"

In the command center, Ristuko responded, "Relax, it's called LCL. It'll help you sync with the Eva, and it's highly oxygenated, so you'll have no problems breathing."

Shinji struggled to keep the frown off his face as he inhaled the foul smelling liquid. _'Tasting blood is one thing, but now I'm breathing something that looks and smells like a hybrid between it and piss.'_

(Insert obligatory techno-babble from bridge bunnies)

"How's his sync ratio holding?" Asked the fake blonde.

"It's holding steady at 66.6% ma'am."

"All systems are operational. Evangelion, ready for launch."

As the head of NERV Operations, it fell to Misato to give the final order. "Eva launch!"

Shinji showed no sign of discomfort as the G-forces began to put pressure on him. Soon enough, the Eva came to a stop on the surface, facing the Angel.

He could here Akagi's voice coming from the command center. "Just try to focus on walking for now."

Hearing this, he replied "Fuck walking!" Relying on instinct, he gave the Eva a mental command to advance on the Angel, which it did by jumping over it, flipping around to face the Angel's back. Following the same tactic he had previously employed against a Dominion, Shinji ordered the Eva to charge the enemy's back with a flying kick.

However, unlike Dominions, the Angel Sachiel was capable of manipulating Absolute Territory. EVA-01's kick fell short and fell to the ground. Before the Eva could disentangle itself from the cord attached to it, the Angel reached down and grabbed it by the arms. It squeezed humanity's defender's arms, eventually twisting them until they broke.

"GGGGGAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"

From underground, Dr. Akagi attempted to reassure Shinji. "Don't worry; it's not your real arm."

Inside the Eva, Shinji held his arms up to display his arms, which were bent at the same location as the Eva's had been broken. "That's fucking easy for you to say when it ISN'T YOU GETTING THE HELL BEATEN OUT OF YOU!"

Shinji could feel pressure on his head as the Eva was lifted by its helmet in Sachiel's hand. A spear of energy materialized, extending from the Angel's elbow as an extension of the forearm. The energy began to repeatedly extend itself, slamming into the right eye of the Eva. After a few strikes, the Angel blasted completely through the Eva's head, knocking into the line of buildings at the end of the street. Inside the entry plug, Shinji had a hole in his head at the exact same location.


	2. Karina Awakens

Warning!: the content of this chapter may offend members of the Christian, Judaic, and/or Islamic faiths. The content within is in no way indicative of my personal beliefs, and by the nature of the MegaTen franchise, there is a possibility that the content of this work will eventually offend followers of any religion.

I say once again; The content of this story is in NO WAY indicative of my personal beliefs. I am not making any comments on ANY religion out of a dislike for that religion, but Solely because it is necessary for a deity of that religion to play a part in this story. This will likely be the last chapter without risk of offending followers of ANY religion.

* * *

Inside the Geo-front, the command staff was desperately trying to reestablish contact with the Eva. After seeing that Shinji had received the same injuries to his arms as the Eva, there wasn't much hope for Shinji's survival.

While there was one who knew that Shinji could survive such an injury under normal circumstances, she couldn't help but wonder _'Why didn't you just regenerate your arms?'_

* * *

_Shinji's mind_

Shinji was standing, naked as the day he was born, in a dark room. "Where… am I?"

"This is a realm that was created by the mingling of our souls."

Shinji turned around to see a woman with no more clothing than he. However, while Shinji had retained his normal form, the woman he now faced was a solid white save for her crimson eyes. "What are you talking about? And who are you?"

"I am the consciousness of what they refer to as the 'Evangelion'. However, a part of me once went by the name of Yui Ikari."

"M-mother…?" The boy asked in shock.

The white woman sadly shook her head. "A portion of me once was yes; but no longer. I am a being that came forth from the merging of a human soul and demonic clone. I am no longer Yui Ikari or EVA-01." She looked Shinji in the eye. "However, the portion of me that was once your mother wills for me to help you. However, as long as this place that is manifest of our merged soul remains in such a condition," here the white woman waved her arm to make a general indication of the place they were in. "We will not be able to fight. And this place will remain like this for as long as you continue to hold yourself back." Sadness was clear on the woman's face as she spoke.

A look of comprehension dawned on Shinji as he said, "You must have been very lonely here. You don't even have a name, do you?" Taking her silence as a yes, he continued. "Well; I'm going to change that."

At Shinji's last statement, the marks of his second level seal reappeared on his body, and the giant lock on his back opened.

* * *

"We've established a connection with the camera inside the plug. I'm putting it on the main screen."

The members of the command staff gasped at the image that was shown. The boy they had sent in was obviously dead. After all, how could someone who had had an entire hemisphere of their brain blown away survive? Misato looked to the boy's sister, shocked to see the little girl smiling. "That's my brother." _'You Triggered before me after all.'_

Before Misato could say anything, her attention was drawn back to the main screen as Shinji began to move. Blue waves of energy were spreading from the now glowing marks along his body, spreading to surround the Eva itself. Focus returned to his remaining eye as he muttered. "Let's go wild… KARINA!"

The waves of energy completely filled the plug, spanning out to create a glowing blue sphere of energy around the newly christened demon. Once the sphere had reached a point where nothing could be seen through it, the signal from the entry plug was terminated as the plug deteriorated around Shinji, who simply laughed as his eye and arms regenerated.

Misato slammed her fist into a console as she demanded, "What the _HELL _is going on here!?"

Neither the chairperson of Project-E nor the bridge bunnies had an answer for her.

As the technicians above scrambled to figure out the answer to the Captain's question, the body of what had once been the Test model of the Evangelions was changing both within, and on the outside.

As the Entry Plug disintegrated around Shinji, a new set of demonic appendages exploded out of the demon's old arms. As a sphere that provided Shinji a full 360 degrees of vision formed around him, the remaining armor mutated into a blue and black chitin-like substance. As Shinji's arms erupted into demonic limbs, Karina's new set of arms settled into a matching form with black and red chitin extending up to his wrists, which were a glowing purple with fingers that came to sharp tips at the end.

Shinji himself had changed as well. His regenerated eye was red instead of his normal grey or the blue hue his eyes normally took on while using demonic power. His formerly brown hair that had hung in his face was now spiky and pushed back with an ash-grey color, and the thick black lines covered his skin had changed appearance to form an X made of chains across his face. With no more than a grin from him, the last piece of the B-Type equipment fell from Karina's now free-to-move jaw.

With nothing preventing their currently shared body from speaking, the two demons spoke in unison as it rose. **"Now **_**THIS **_**is more like i-" **They were cut off as Sachiel fired a cross-beam. However, with all of Karina's abilities available, it was simple enough for them to deflect the shot into the atmosphere with an Absolute Territory Field. **"I WAS TALKING!!!!!!!" **

After bouncing another beam into the sky, the duo lost any patience they once had and disappeared into a shadow, only to reappear directly behind Sachiel. It attempted to turn and face its enemy, but was instead grabbed by the left arm and thrown into the air. Instead of jumping to follow it, Karina and Shinji just appeared with a few meters beneath it from out of its shadow. Repeating the throw and follow method twice more found the two outside the city.

'_Our Air Tricks are able to keep or ignore momentum as we see fit. This thing doesn't have a chance.'_ With that thought, Karina kicked the airborne Angel in the back, then used another Air Trick to appear above and kick it in the face. The original white mask from before it had the N2 dropped on it was knocked off, and was quickly followed by its legs.

Unfortunately, Sachiel was healing every wound it was dealt. Figuring that the idiots below just _might _know something he didn't, he established a connection with Central Dogma. **"You guys have any idea where I need to hit this thing? Cuz our idea of just tearing parts off until it dies doesn't seem to be working!" **Indeed, the Angel had regrown every piece of its body that Shinji and Karina tore off.

Without prompting from (or permission of) her commanding officers, Maya ignored the fact that he was onscreen (supposedly) controlling the Eva without any kind of interface and answered, "The MAGI says that the highest concentration of energy is in the red sphere on its chest. If that doesn't destroy it, then it should at least weaken it enough to finish it off."

Shinji thanked her as Karina avoided a strike from Sachiel's left arm. _'Dammit; we don't have a long enough reach to get to that thing. We need a weapon…'_ As if to answer his thoughts, several hilts appeared around his body inside Karina. Giving one an experimental tug, a glowing zweihaender appeared in his hand. The blade of a giant copy in Karina's hand was now blocking one of the bars of energy that extended from the Angel's arms.

'_Let's try that again.' _Grabbing another hilt with his left hand, Shinji pulled another weapon; this time a katana.

Smiling at his discovery, Karina and Shinji spoke at once. **"I don't know much about swordplay, but I don't need to be right now."** Jumping back with a kick to Sachiel's chest, Shinji threw the katana in his hand at the Angel, and smirked as he saw that instead of Karina's arm throwing the weapon, it simply left the giant demon's open hand and flew in the same direction Shinji had thrown it.

The weapon had impaled one of the Angel's faces. As Karina charged forward, Shinji moved from his prone position in the center of the purple sphere within Karina. _'My position in here doesn't directly affect Karina's body, but it does affect these swords. And that means…'_

'_**That we can strike from multiple directions.'**_ Karina finished Shinji's thoughts.

As Shinji moved to the forward point in the sphere, Karina went back to hand to giant bar of energy combat. She got in a punch that slightly chipped the Angel's Super-Solenoid organ; Sachiel retaliated by knocking the sword out of Karina's right hand. Shinji grabbed the corresponding weapon within the sphere and brought it around to remove the Angel's left arm again.

With just the slight damage done to the Angel's special organ, it was unable to regenerate enough of the limb to prevent Karina from grabbing its other limb and slamming her other fist through the red sphere. While the Angel's body dissolved into a primordial soup without the S2 organ holding it together, the energy from it swirled around and entered Karina.

"Aaahhhhh; now _there's _a good meal, eh Karina?"

'_**I need to sleep for a while. This body is still new, and it hasn't completely stabilized everything yet.'**_

"Allright. I'll get your body back underground so it can rest."

'_**Thank you.'**_

_

* * *

_

15 minutes later, Evangelion Cage Six

Shinji crawled out of Karina's mouth to see most of NERV's command staff and several guards aiming guns at him. "Are you all fucking morons? I just saved you ungrateful bastards and you're getting ready to fail to kill me."

At Misato's orders, the guards lowered their weapons. "You can come out. We just want to ask a few questions." Shinji jumped down to the catwalk the others were standing on.

"Hey Rokubungi; where's my pay?"

"You're pushing your luck with your impudence boy. You are just a child, and you are severely outnumbered should you try anything." Responded the goat-fucker.

The NERV staff was shocked when Shinji just laughed at his statement. "Oh man, you don't have slightest clue how bad that this could go for you, huh? Well, to give an idea of just how much power I have at my disposal, I'm going to bring Alice into the normal range of perception."

Before the NERV Commander and his important tools could question him, a massive amount of energy began to radiate from the two. After about twenty seconds, the now visible energy began to focus in the shape of a small girl. Of course, since Misato and Ritsuko were already able to see the girl, they were slightly less frightened by what happened. Upon hearing the long haired bridge bunny exclaim "What the Fuck!?" Shinji decided to explain what had occurred after his arms had returned to normal.

Panting, he began to explain. "Now, for those of you who are not attuned enough to see her normally, this is Alice."

"Hi!" If only they knew how dangerous that little girl was…

"She is one of the few potential allies that you have at this moment, so I suggest you be nice." Shinji then ordered the NERV staff, "Now, I have a few questions of my own. Let's start with what you know about the Second Impact."

After hearing their explanation about how Adam was a dangerous entity and the first Angel, Alice started rolling on the ground laughing as Shinji sighed at the stupidity of humanity. "Okay, you've just proven that He might be doing things like me a favor by ensuring that no children I ever sire could possibly be so stupid. I don't know who it is that you consider the 'Second Angel,' but I can tell you for a fact that the first major action in this war was taken by Heaven when they sent Sachiel here. Normally, humans wouldn't be able to see demons. However, certain humans like Misato and Ritsuko are able to see them. The reason that normal people could see the demons that you have been classifying as 'Angels' is because they have the raw energy of what is referred to as Devil Trigger. So far, you have encountered Adam, who could have been one of the greatest allies humanity could have had, and Sachiel, who was sent as Heaven's official declaration of war. The reason for this was not retaliation for what you did to Adam, but in fear that you would do it to them." Seeing Fuyutsuki raise his hand like a little child in school, he gestured for him to ask his question.

"If 'Heaven' is doing this out of fear that we could do it to them, why did it take fifteen years for them to strike?"

Alice was the one to answer this time. "Even by the standards of the Makai, it takes forever for Law to make a decision. It also worked in your favor that time in the Makai and the human world don't move at the same rate, or even at a rate that is consistent compared to the other. A decade on the human plane could take several millennia in Makai, or a few seconds. The fluctuations between time will also prevent any pattern from being displayed as to when they will appear."

"I thank Chronos for deciding to remain neutral, or we'd be fucked. And that's without having to worry about Fiends." Shinji muttered.

"Fiends?" It was the female bridge bunny to ask this time.

The coated boy elaborated. "The Fiends are Hell's equivalent of what Heaven will be sending. However, most of the Fiends are too small for something of Karina's size to fight, and too powerful to be fought by ordinary soldiers. They'll have to be fought on foot; either by me and Alice, or teams of Devil Summoners. I'm assuming that since this bastard will want NERV and NERV alone to be responsible for fighting them, it will be left up to me and Alice to stop the things. It would probably be safe to assume that there will be one Fiend for every Angel."

Misato shouted out, "That's bullshit! You expect us to believe all of this!?"

He focused his gaze on the Captain. "Since you could see Alice, I assumed you wouldn't have much difficulty in believing me. However, if you refuse to believe what I have told you, I suppose I will just have to wait for a Fiend to come and prove me correct." As the boy began to walk away, he said, "I'll be sure and come back here after the Fiend is dead. Don't bother looking for me." Looking back from the doorway, he said, "And I'll see you in court soon you old bastard."

"Hey, wait!" Misato tried to follow him, but the two had already disappeared by the time that she reached the door. "Where did they go?"

* * *

"Are you alright Shinji?"

The aforementioned half-demon was sitting down by a building, in a condition normal humans might be in after running a few miles nonstop. "I'm okay. It just took a lot of energy to give you a temporary body, and then use an Air Trick to go through all those layers."

The girl shook her head at the foolishness of pushing himself so hard before asking, "So what now?"

"We still have a pretty good amount of money, so we should be able to find a place to stay pretty easily. I think property values in this town are about to go straight to hell."

Alice nodded. "So, we find an apartment, and then just sit around in it waiting for a Fiend or the next Angel to show up? What makes you think that they're even going to come here?"

He turned back to her, surprised. "You have to ask? This place is soaked with demonic energy, and it was the first place they made a move in. They'll be drawn to this place, especially since the portal to Makai that was in Antarctica collapsed in Second Impact."

His adopted sister blinked, surprised that he'd thought things out that far. "So what are we going to do in the meantime?"

"I'm not too sure; maybe I'll enroll myself in a local school, finally get some education from people that don't look at me and think child killer. That or start a demon-slaying business; maybe both."

"Sounds like a good idea."

* * *

Within a few days, Shinji had made a down payment on a building, and was currently in the middle of remodeling it. True to his prediction, property values in Tokyo-3 had gone to hell in all but the most literal sense of the phrase as people fled the city.

'_**Idiots… What makes them think it'll be safer anywhere else?'**_

'_It's a natural response to flee a location seen as dangerous.' _thought Shinji in response to the demon in his head. _'This is the only place they know of to have been attacked, so they think that it won't happen anywhere else.'_

'_**What fools these humans are.'**_

As if answering the demon's thoughts about humanity, a pair of NERV Section Two grunts came up to the outside of the building. "Shinji Ikari!" shouted the more senior lackey.

Looking down from the wall outside the second of three floors of the building, the boy responded, "Hey, welcome to the Blue Rose! Sorry if you have a job for us, but we won't be open for business until next week. Office hours are whenever I feel like being here."

One of the two men on the ground said, "We're from NERV Section-2. We have orders to retrieve you."

Shinji jumped off the wall down to ground level and told him, "Well you see, that's going to be a bit of a problem. I don't plan on leaving this property until the school starts up again tomorrow."

The agents gave a sigh at what they thought was the arrogant child of an arrogant bastard before one said, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. No matter what happens, you _are_ going to come back with us."

Their unconscious bodies that spent the next hour on the other side of the street prove them wrong.

* * *

The next day, Shinji found himself standing before the brown-haired and freckled class-representative. "You're that transfer student, right?" At his nod, she continued, "It's nice to see someone transferring _in _for a change. Everyone else is getting out of the city after the attack the other day. Although…" and here her face took on a curious expression, "I can't help but wonder _why _you would come here."

Having planned for if someone asked him about this, he responded with the lie he and Alice had worked on. "Well, I figured that with everything that had happened there would be an increased demand for work. My little sis and I have been on our own for awhile, and the place we've been in wasn't exactly a nice place. I figured that I'd be able to find some work and get a better place for her to live at the same time." _'Well, I guess it isn't a _total _lie. I just didn't say exactly what kind of work I was looking for.'_

Her face softened at his response. "I see. Well, sensei should be here soon. Feel free to sit anywhere, most of the people in our class left town anyway."

Shinji spent the first half of the school day listening to people making arguments about him being or not being the pilot of the 'giant mecha.' _**'These damn humans can't even tell a demon apart from a robot anymore.'**_ thought the demon inside Shinji. _**'These useless pieces of shit have forgotten what a demon is.'**_

'_Shut up.' _Shinji thought in response. _'It's probably better if they think that. Could you imagine the kind of panic the general populace would be in they knew that they were at war with heaven and a giant demon was the only thing they had to stand between them?'_

'_**Yes I can, and I want to see it!'**_

Shinji shut the voice out as he focused on his lunch. He'd decided to avoid going down to eat with the other students, opting instead to have his lunch on the roof. _'Hell, even if they weren't spreading rumors about me being a pilot, I'd still end up getting grief over the grey hair.'_ Unlike his arms and eyes, his hair had stayed the same grey shade as it was in Karina. _'Well, at least my eyes are still both grey. I was worried that my right eye would stay red.'_ That would have made it rather difficult to remain inconspicuous.

His musing was cut short as he felt a temporary rip in reality open and allow a demon from Makai to enter the human plane. His lunch forgotten, he made a running leap to edge of the roof, jumping off in the direction of the demon. _'Dammit, I still haven't recovered enough energy to Air Trick over there. I'll have to go on foot.' _Shinji was not enthused at the thought of fighting a Fiend with as relatively little energy as he had left. _'I guess I'll just have to stop by the shop and pick up a couple of Devil Stars. I'll have to make do on my current Green Blood supply; we'll need those Vital Stars for the procedure on that girl NERV has crippled.'_

Unknown to Shinji, there was another student on campus who felt what he did. He also didn't know that that student left at the same time he did.

* * *

At the same time, the members of NERV's staff were panicking. "What the hell do you mean, 'It's not a Blue Pattern'? What the hell is it?" Misato was particularly unhappy about the current turn of events.

"It's closer to what Unit-01 was reading as when it killed the last Angel than anything else," reported Maya Ibuki. "And according to the Magi, there's something with a similar pattern approaching from the high school."

"Damnit. Sound the Angel alerts! Get the people to the shelters, now!" _'It's not like there's much else we can do right now…'_

* * *

As a girl approached the park where the Fiend had appeared, she recalled the conversation she had had with her grandfather the other day.

"_Things will be very difficult from now on. Are you sure that you wish to remain in this city, knowing that this will continue to occur?" asked an elderly man with long grey hair._

_She responded, "Of course I am. That is my duty as a member of the Kuzunoha clan, even if I have not yet earned the name of Geirin."_

_Geirin Kuzunoha XXI smiled at his grand-daughter. "You will do this name proud Hikari."_

With one hand holding the hilt of the dagger she kept strapped to her thigh and the other holding a now glowing tube, she stared at the head of the body hanging from a cloud. "Let's do this." And she summoned a High Pixie.

* * *

Now, because I want this fic to be easy to understand without my readers having to look all over the internet and guess at wtf is going on, I'll be putting some information on certain topics below.

Makai: The world where demons created by human worship reside. Most beings that originate from a shared belief eventually form nations.

The Dark Realm: A buffer world created by intermingling of the human world and the Makai. Demons and certain humans are able to freely enter, and it is often used by Devil Summoners to acquire Demons and to train themselves and their demons.

Heaven: Ruled by YVHV, this is the home of the angels of Judeo-Christian lore and the center of power for the Law alignment.

Hell: Ruled by Lucifer, this is the home of 'true' demons in Judeo-Christian lore and the center of power for the Chaos alignment.

Olympus: Ruled by Zeus, this nation is home to the followers of the Twelve Olympians. The Realms of Hades and Morpheus lie on the outskirts. Negotiating alliance with heaven.

Valhalla: One of the three allied nations that came about from the worship of Norse deities. Ruled by Odin; currently unaligned.

Folkvangr: One of the three allied nations that came about from the worship of Norse deities. Ruled by Freyja; currently unaligned.

Asgard: A directly subservient nation to Valhalla. Managed by Yggdrasil through the authority of Odin.

Aaru: Ruled by Osiris. Home to the entire Egyptian Pantheon. Currently unaligned.

Wonderland: Currently in a state of civil war between those who wish to remain uninvolved in the Law-Chaos conflict and those who wish to join Chaos.

Nirai Kanai: The name taken for his nation by Izanagi to ensure that it was not confused with the Heaven ruled by YHVH. Ruled by Izanagi, who has blessed several humans with the power to oppose demons of Law and Chaos that attempt to influence the human world. Used these humans to kill Izanami, who was attempting to incite a rebellion and ally with Hell.

Vaikunta: A nation that came about from worship of Hindu deities and following of Buddhist teachings. Currently ruled by Vishnu; Law alignment; said by some to be a puppet nation of Heaven.

Devil Trigger: A special ability of demons that increases strength, speed, and endurance exponentially. Requires very high White Blood levels and temporarily allows the body to produce additional Green Blood. A full demon that has achieved the Triggered state is always visible to humans that cannot see ordinary demons.

White Blood: One of the three types of blood that are present to some degree in all demons. White blood is necessary to use most demonic skills, and flows through purple veins in demon bodies.

Green Blood: The second of three types of blood that are present to some degree in all demons. Green Blood allows rapid regeneration of tissue damage, and in high enough amounts will allow a demon to ignore wounds that would otherwise be fatal. With a high enough pain tolerance and Green Blood levels, a demon can function even if there is something (like a blade through the heart) that obstructs the regeneration of a severe injury.

Red Blood: The type of blood that is present in all living beings. Ones own or another's may be used to increase one's White or Green Blood capacity, or to create stimulants to restore Green and White Blood using Vital and Devil Stars, respectively.

Vital Star: Crystallized Green Blood. Smashing it against ones own body will replenish an exhausted supply of Green Blood.

Devil Star: Crystallized White Blood. Smashing it against ones own body will replenish an exhausted supply of White Blood.


	3. The Corrupt Hand of Law

Sorry this chapter took so long, but shit happened IRL, then I finished this chapter about a week ago... then I realized how little room I'd left myself for things to develope with the UN's opinion of Shinji, which I then realized I would need to become important later.

Cheletiba: Have no doubt, Shinji has as much power as most Trigger-Capable demons. Hell, in terms of raw power, he's around the level an SMT character would be at about 3/4's through the game. Using that power is another thing entirely though, seeing as the source of that power doesn't like him very much. Outside of his Eva, he'll be as likely to create the sword he needs as launch a fireball into a nearby hospital. As for defeats, his first one will come from a tattooed man with yellow eyes in between Shamshel and whatever I decide the Fifth will be. There are only two summoners that could beat both Shinji and Alice, one of whom will make their debut as a summoner fighting Tabris. As for the pilots, all I'll say at this point is this; think about the origins of the First and Fifth children. And about Shinji's attitude, just about everything he does around people he doesn't trust (almost everyone) is what he feels he needs to do for some reason or another, whether it is to gain an ally, a show of strength against a weaker foe, or a bluff against someone he doesn't want to have to fight. (Note that some things he says if he even _thinks_ someone he doesn't trust could be a lie. Only assume what he says aloud is the truth if he's in Gouma-Den or speaking to Alice by having her read his mind.)

Bonus points for anyone who can guess who either of those summoners are before they have a fight. By chapter five, both of them will have had at least one appearance.

* * *

Later that day in Gouma-Den, Shinji found himself thinking about the class rep. Or, as he now knew her to be, a somewhat capable Devil Summoner. _'The Devil Summoners have been managed by the government for decades. Hell, even if she's of the Kuzunoha Clan's Four Great Summoners, Geirin XVIII was the last of them who was able to act autonomously. That clan might still answer to the Yatagarasu's direct orders, but every Summoner for the past sixty years has either been in the UN's pocket, or labeled by that same group as an international terrorist. I only know one Summoner that I'd trust even a quarter of the distance I could throw her, and that child isn't her. I'm surprised she even managed to survive that battle, much less take it down by herself.'_

'_**You should just kill her now. If you allow a human with potential to grow, then that single human may grow strong enough to kill hundreds like us.' **_

'_You seem to have forgotten that _I _also have that human potential for growth. Of course, a demon like you would never be able to understand something like that; limited as you are. I will not kill her now because I will be able to defeat her if it becomes necessary later.'_

The demon thought to himself, _**'This boy may be more arrogant than either of us ever were, little brother. And he doesn't even realize that it isn't **_**his **_**power that is bringing this arrogance. I just hope he doesn't get himself killed. After all; then I'd have to find a body that wouldn't be as… 'receptive' to me.'**_

_

* * *

_

Flashback

As Shinji slammed one of the larger Devil Stars they had stored into his chest, he looked back at Alice. "You find that Fiend yet?"

The unmoving girl opened her eyes and said, "Yeah, it's still in the park where it first arrived. It seems like it's fighting."

Opening the second lock on his body, Shinji grabbed her and placed her over his shoulder before Air Tricking to just outside that park.

'_She was right, this thing's definitely fighting someone.'_ While Shinji's senses were… unrefined would be the most polite way to say it… even he could sense that the Fiend had just killed a demon. Sensing the appearance of another demon, he thought, _'Definitely a Summoner. I'll stick around in case the fight starts to move out of the park, but whoever this is will probably be getting reinforcements soon. I can't afford to stick around too long though; I have a schedule to keep.'_

* * *

'_Damn, this thing does too much damage to not have a demon out that can heal'. _As she managed to get a scratch on the Fiend, her thoughts continued,_ 'But neither of us are strong enough in offense to do much in retaliation.'_

"**Well little Summoner, it looks like you're having a bit of trouble." **As the Fiend rose in preparation to flatten her, Hikari was trying to discreetly remove the tube that held her only remaining offensive demon. **"Know that I, the great Binbougami, was the one to slay you."** As the demon moved in for a killing blow, the flash of green light that accompanies the summoning of a demon from a tube stopped it.

'_It's all or nothing here. I need two separate demons for offense and healing, but my body won't be able to tolerate the strain for long.'_ Proving her point about the strain, she visibly flinched at the MAG drain when the Pyro Jack she'd summoned fired a point-blank Agirati at Binbougami. However, when she saw that the strike was enough to knock it to the ground for a few moments, she grinned. _'This thing can't handle fire. I can win this!'_

Unfortunately for her, at this point the Fiend she was fighting flew into the sky and began to rain down coins. They were sized like normal 50 yen pieces, but they fell in clusters large enough to do some serious bruising. Luckily, the coins were close enough that it was possible for Hikari to dodge them by staying out of their shadow. "Is that the best you've got!?"

Then the human sized coins started rolling around on the ground. _'I just _had _to ask, didn't I?'_ At full strength, she probably would have dodged each of them easily. But much to her dismay, she had been fighting for a few minutes, and the strain of having two demons draining her MAG was starting to affect her movement. _'Damn!'_ Her leg received a glancing blow from one of the rolling coins, cracking the bone.

'_Pain is a message, and I can ignore that message.'_ The young Summoner kept repeating this mantra as she jumped into the one part of the surrounding twenty meters that wasn't covered with the shadow of the falling giant coin. However, when she started to cough up a bit of blood, she knew she had to end it quickly.

Her Pyro Jack used the last bit of her MAG to set her knife ablaze as Binbou-Gami descended.

* * *

Having seen enough, Shinji collapsed the small platform he'd been standing on. "Where are you going Shinji?"

"We've wasted too much time here already. Besides," Shinji waved his arm in the direction of the fight, "It doesn't matter which of them wins. Binbou-Gami is almost completely drained of magnetite. If the girl doesn't kill him, then the reinforcements that will soon arrive will. And you and I both know what they would do if they found you here."

Alice knew that he was right in his implication, but she could also tell that there was some concern for himself as well. While summoners disliked demons in the human world, both of them held a great disdain for things like Shinji, who were always too much like the other to be accepted by either. Half demons were viewed as a delicious treat among demon-kind, and the UN controlled summoners viewed their very existence as a crime against nature deserving punishment by death, though only those who knew how the current world was created understood the reasoning for that belief. "So, what now?"

Shinji looked to her and answered, "I told them I'd be back after the Fiend was dead, not after I killed one. But there's another thing that needs to be handled right now."

Alice knew her brother well enough to know what he meant. But to be sure, she asked, "You mean that girl the bastard was parading around to blackmail you?"

"You could sense it too, couldn't you? It was faint, and her powers were probably suppressed from an early age, but that girl was demonic on a basic enough level for _me_ to be able to sense it. And besides, I just wouldn't be able to stand myself if I let her stay under Rokubungi's thumb."

Her response was less than enthusiastic. "So what are you going to do? Break down the front door, beat the hell out of everyone you meet until you find where she's being kept, then take her back out the same way you went in?"

The boy responded with a smirk before replying, "I have a plan."

'_This is going to bite us in the ass later. Right not, the U.N. only sees us as a minor annoyance because we haven't made any major moves against them. Acting against a group they control by kidnapping a member could turn public opinion against us before we anticipated, and that could compromise Operation Musubi. This will put us on their threat list, and they'll finally be serious in their attempts to take us out. Still, he's right about leaving that bastard in control of someone with her potential. That kind of power could be enough to oppose us, but if we get her on our side, things will go much more smoothly.' _"I know I'm going to regret asking this, but what is your plan this time?"

* * *

Inside Central Dogma, the Commander of NERV was sitting in his traditional bastard pose, thinking of how his scenario needed to be altered to compensate for the thing that wasn't an Angel. The rest of his staff was alternating between "Oh my God, the boy was right" and "what the hell are we supposed to do now?"

Shinji was standing a couple of meters behind the bastard, having Air Tricked in without notice of the very busy staff. "Hey there, goat-fucker. Looks like you're pretty busy right now; should I come back some other time?"

The bastard in question spun around in his chair to see… nothing.

"I'm over here dipshit." Gendo turned back to where he'd been facing to find Shinji leaning against the railing of his little platform. "I told you I'd be back when the Fiend was dead, didn't I? I'm here to tell you a few things. I don't have time to chat, so I suggest you listen up. First of all, there will be more of those things. Second, I will kill them for payment. I don't care if I get it from you or the government that funds you, but I _will _get my payment. Third, this same agreement applies for the Angels. Four, know that it is within my power to simply take what you call Unit-01 and fight without your authorization. I am giving you the opportunity to retain your credibility as the only organization that can defeat the Angels. Surely this place has enough funds running through it for you to pay me the amount I specify."

Shinji stopped speaking and tilted his head slightly just before Maya shouted from her terminal, "There's a huge spike of energy coming from _inside_ the Geofront. It looks like it's coming from inside the hospital wing!"

Shinji smiled to himself. _'Looks like Alice found the right room. Guess I'd better hurry it up over here.'_ "If you want to talk about the terms of any arrangement you may wish to come to, you know where to find me." Just before Air Tricking away, he added, "Oh yeah, fifth of all, I'm taking that girl you decided to parade in front of me to get medical treatment from someone more suited to deal with her… _special needs_. Bye now."

* * *

Most people in Rei's position would be freaking out. Most people would have curled up into a ball at seeing a pale blond girl floating by their hospital bed. Rei Ayanami was not most people. But even she was unable to maintain an expression of complete apathy after seeing a teenaged boy blurring into her well-lit hospital room.

The floating blond spoke to the new arrival. "It's about time you got here. How'd it go?"

'_We both know that you'll just read my thoughts on it, so I'm just going to think it. We'll be out of here before they arrive, so they'll probably go to investigate the building while we're gone.'_

As a demon of the Pagan Order, Alice was aware of exactly what Shinji was thinking. "I see. Do you think he'll agree to pay you?"

"Honestly? I'm kind of hoping he won't." _'It'll mean that there will be no reason not to get Karina out of here once she wakes up. And it'll be good to be able to act without having to get permission from the bureaucrats that would inevitably damn humanity if left with the authority to decide when we're allowed to fight. Bastards like them are why Musubi is necessary; they'll kill themselves off with inaction and drag everyone else down with them, human or demon.'_ Looking to his left, Shinji grinned as a swirling purple vortex opened. "It looks like our ride's here. Go tell him to set up the array; I'll be along right after you."

Alice nodded before floating through the vortex, which the two of them knew to be a gate to the Gouma-Den.

"How long has he spent breaking you to his will?"

The girl laying before him surprised him by answering his mumbled question, which had truly been more of a wondering comment that he hadn't expected an answer to. "What do you mean?"

The teenager answered, "On his whim, you were going to go out and die in a battle that everyone there _knew_ you wouldn't survive. No person who had even the slightest bit of common sense would have ordered something like that _knowing_ that there was an alternative that had a _better_ chance of success standing right in front of him! Why the hell would you follow someone like _him_!?" Shinji was yelling by this point.

"Because the commander is the only thing in this world I have faith in. You are his son. Why do you not trust in your own father?" was the monotonous response he received.

"I fail to trust the man because he failed to give me any reason to do so for the past ten years, and recently has given a few reasons to the contrary. If you have evidence that allows you to believe differently, then I welcome you to think whatever you want. But I will never trust that man, and so I'm going to take you to someone better suited to provide medical aid for those such as us." Shinji did not receive a reply this time. "Do you even care what I'm talking about?"

"It does not matter if you are removing me from this place. I can be replaced."

Shinji's fist tightened around the railing of the bed he was preparing to push through the portal. Rei recognized the matching look on his face from several instances when she was younger; though it was from a different Ikari. "Don't say that. No living being can possibly be fully replaced, and you are far more unique than most."

* * *

_Present_

"I know that it's difficult to read the mind of a half-demon unless they're specifically allowing access, but couldn't you at least get a few surface thoughts?"

Alice answered, "I'm telling you Shinji, I couldn't even get a single surface thought out of her."

"But how can that be possible!? I know it's next to impossible for you to get access to _all_ of a half demon's thoughts, but even I can't keep you out of my _surface_ thoughts for long. And she still doesn't even have access to demonic abilities!"

Putting her hand to her chin, Alice answered, "There are only two possibilities that I can think of. Either there aren't any surface thoughts to read-"

"Which shouldn't be possible in any sentient being." Shinji cut in.

"-or there's a third mind present blocking my attempts." Alice finished.

"So either she's brain-dead or there's something in her head stronger (or more cooperative) than the bastard locked up in mine. But where could something like that have come from? It's not like NERV has a powerful devil locked up that they're using to mass-produce pilots for the other demons they made themselves and whispers into the minds of each one they create until they die."

* * *

Deep in the bowels of the Geo-front, the inhabitants of the Reiquarium simultaneously sneezed before returning to their mindless drifting.

* * *

"Well, she might just have multiple personality syndrome, but it's also possible that who or whatever contributed to her demonic heritage grants her immunity to mental manipulation, which could theoretically also prevent demons like me from reading her mind."

Shinji just stared at her blankly as possibilities started going through his head. _'Demons and Gods that are good with screwing around with people's minds; Hypnos, Lilith, hell it could have been any sexual oriented demon, Pasithea; oh shit…'_ "Please tell me that we didn't just awaken the spawn of Morpheus to full use of demonic powers of mind-fuckery."

"Don't worry Shinji; if she was the child of Morpheus she would have eventually started to screw with people's minds without our intervention, it would just have been a matter of time until we were boned anyway."

Shinji was relieved enough by her statement to respond, "Get the inevitable out of the way so we can focus on what can be changed, right?"

"Too late to do anything else with her, so we can't exactly do anything else." Changing the subject, Alice asked, "Victor should be done by now, shouldn't he?"

Alice received her answer from the man himself. "I am!" Doctor Victor von CreepyAsAllFuck came out of the lab area he'd designated as his OR. The man was deserving of the title, with the grey psycho hair, giant red coat, cane, albino skin and freaky marks beneath his eyes.

Shinji asked the limping man, "How'd the operation go, Vic?"

"My Name is VICTOR! DOCTOR VICTOR! NOT 'VIC'!" shouted the enraged demonologist. "As for the girl, she's stable. It'll probably be awhile before she wakes up though; at least a week."

Shinji did as he always did after outbursts like the one he had just seen. "A week, huh?" He acted like it didn't happen. Looking to the blond demon beside him, he started to ask, "Ali-" but was cut off.

"I know, you want me to stay here and come get you when she wakes up. Or did I pick out the wrong thought?"

The half-demon focused on the twitch he felt in his mind and shut out Alice's attempts at reading his mind. "Yeah. I'd do it myself, but I really ought to go see if it's possible to smooth things over with NERV."

"Don't worry about it; I was expecting something like this anyway. It's not like Victor could be relied on to get the message to you."

"I take offense to that." contributed the aforementioned scientist.

Shinji turned back to the man and said, "Doc, the last time you tried to send us a message, you did it by sending an Ippon-Datara into the human world. You didn't even send it straight to our apartment, despite knowing exactly where it was. Instead, you sent it two towns away from us disguised as a maid without even giving it directions. If it were left to you to get the message out, it would be too late for the information to matter."

"Fine, they can stay in one of the rooms down that hall." The doctor pointed to a hallway as the other two looked at each other.

"Was that hall there last month?"

Alice replied, "This room wasn't here last month."

Turning back to the doctor, Shinji asked, "Did you expand the place again?"

"… it really took the pair of you _this_ long to notice that you were in a room that wasn't here a month ago?"

"… maybe."

Victor gave him a long look before walking over to a terminal. "Just get out of my lab you moron." He pulled a lever and Shinji was pulled through a vortex.

* * *

No one noticed the small purple vortex that appeared high above Tokyo-3. There wasn't a single person that noticed Shinji falling out of the sky either. "SSSSSHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT!!!!!!!!!!"

CRACK

Shinji found himself wondering, _'Why is it that that bastard always drops me off at just the right height to damage my body, but never high enough for me to get my bearings before impact?'_ Aloud, however, he just groaned as the broken bones of his right leg rubbed against each other.

Unfortunately for Shinji, someone _did_ notice the landing, just not that he fell from a hole in reality. "You alright kid?"

Shinji turned to see an old man standing next to a car with broken windows. _'Oh shit, I landed on this guy's car.'_ "Y-yeah, I've been through worse. I just need to walk it off a bit…" Making sure that his bangs would cover the tell-tale glow of his eyes, the half-demon released the first layer of his seal to allow his Green Blood to flow freely.

And he made good use of it when the old man pulled a short-sword from under his coat and rammed it through Shinji's chest. "Be purged from this innocent soul, Gedou!"

Understandably, Shinji didn't take having his right lung pierced just after he'd healed his broken leg kindly. "I'm not a Gedou." the boy growled as he grabbed the man's arm. "And just trying to kill me isn't enough to remove that bastard." He pulled the man's arm to his right, dragging the sword out of his body with it.

The man shook his arm free and jumped back. "A Juujin then. One who has committed such a crime must be put down. And as Geirin Kuzunoha XXI, it is my duty to do so." The elderly man reached into his dark coat and removed a single tube.

'_Geirin Kuzunoha! He's one of the Four Great Summoners! This… could be a problem.'_ Shinji jumped back before the summoner could bring out his demon and said, "Geirin Kuzunoha XXI, huh? The man who made a name for himself as the Burning Blade Summoner for his mastery of swordsmanship and Pyro demons during the Siege of Dark Tokyo?"

The old man smirked at him. "The same. I'm surprised that a Juujin like yourself bothered to learn my name."

Shinji replied, "Well then, you're about to be surprised by another thing. I'm not a Juujin either." Before the old summoner could reply, black markings began to crawl down his face. "Surely you recognize these marks?"

The old man was shocked at what he was seeing, though for a different reason than Shinji had expected. "So Hell has begun to make its move as well, hasn't it… Naoki Kashima."

"What do you mean, Hell is making its move? And for that matter, who the fuck is Naoki Kashima?" He'd merely thought that the Kuzunoha would see the marks and assume he was a half-demon, not be mistaken for some soldier of Hell he'd never even heard of.

"You're Naoki Kashima. Who else could you be, he's the only being to bear that mark since Sparda separated this world and the Makai, something that wouldn't have been necessary to begin with if you hadn't destroyed that precarious balance!"

The half-demon jumped back as his opponent attempted to decapitate him, calling forth a glowing katana and slashing in retaliation, locking blades with his foe. "You've got the wrong guy, bastard. I've never even heard of this Kashima guy before today, but you seem pretty determined to kill me just because of some marks on my skin!"

"It doesn't matter if you're him or his successor, monsters like you have to be put down!" The old man kicked Shinji away and pulled a small tube out of his coat. "CERBERUS!" The white lion rushed toward Shinji, narrowly scraping his side with a swipe of its paw. However, it was able to strike him in the side with its scaled tail.

Shinji thought, _'Why the hell did I think that just sidestepping would work? It's not like that tactic has ever been effective against anything else that can do something besides charge forward. I'll just have to match the fucker with raw strength.'_ before discarding his sword and catching the demon, grabbing the beast where its front legs connected to its body. "Not so tough now, are you!?"

It is important to keep in mind that Shinji Ikari is one of about a dozen people in the current human world whose life's guiding principal was Murphy's Law. Anything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong, and it will do so at the worst possible time. In this particular instance, it was Cerberus displaying its ability to breathe fire while a mere arm's length away from Shinji's face.

The now ablaze teen kicked the beast before him, jumping back to escape the stream of flame. _'Damn, regeneration doesn't mean shit if my skin will just keep being burned because the flames are still on me, and I don't have time to put this out with these two here.'_

"Seems your having a bit of a problem, kid." The older man was smirking as he twirled the tube he'd pulled out earlier. "And it's only going to get worse." The tube was pointed at the sky now. "MADA!" In a flow of green energy, a giant body began to take shape. The first thing to take a solid shape was a massive ring large enough to serve as a belt for an Evangelion. Four connecting lines began to reach down to where the shoulders were beginning to form, from which the rest of a vaguely shaped body started to form with a large cylinder in place of a head.

Throughout this, the black lines on Shinji's arms and what could be seen of his burning face and torso were thrashing around on his skin, as if they were trying to twist themselves into a new shape. "So you think I'm a kid, huh? If that's the case," and for the first time since he became a Summoner, Geirin Kuzunoha XXI saw someone who smelled of their own burning flesh _grin_ as the marks on his opponent's body began to partner up and take on the shape of chains along most of his body and an X of them across his face **"then I'm betting you'll blush a pretty pink when I knock your little friend down to size!"**

Sensing the increase in power from the obvious threat, Cerberus charged the threat to its master before the teen could do anything to react, resulting in Shinji's left arm being trapped in the jaws of the beast. However, the gritting of his teeth was the only outward sign he displayed in response to the pain as he watched Mada's purple body manifest, which then began to form silver studded black armor around the four armed behemoth's knees, chest, and shoulders. However, as Mada's cylindrical head was set ablaze, a look of pain crossed Shinji's face that was completely unrelated to the fangs in his arm.

'_Da__**M**__n I__**t**__... d__**I**__D i pUs__**h**__ it t__**oo F**__aR?'_

'_**I really should be thanking you, boy. You haven't given me THIS much freedom for **_**years**_**.'**_

Shinji could feel the devil's power beginning to influence his body. He was beginning to grow fangs, had lost feeling in his left arm, and could see arcane blue markings starting to circle around it. _'__**Go blow yourself. You Dare try to usurp control from ME!? This is my body, bastard. Here, my will is absolute. And my will is to take your power from you, using it as **_**I**_** see fit.**__'_ The rotating markings stopped their advance at his shoulder, contracting around the arm and releasing a surge of power.

_**The arm of a warrior fallen from grace**_

_**The power of darkness calls forth the skills of the father**_

Shinji looked at his arm's new state and smiled, seemingly taking no notice of the fact that the force of the transformation had been enough to destroy the Cerberus latched onto the limb. The arm itself had taken a form similar to what had happened in the Eva a few days ago, with two main differences; the first being that the color of the hand and the purple energy that had radiated from it was a dark blue.

Geirin was violently introduced to the second difference as Shinji performed an Air Trick and punched him in the stomach hard enough to knock the summoner into the leg of his remaining demon.

This arm was twice as large as it should be.

The man gritted his teeth and spoke through the pain of his several injured ribs, "What are you?"

The unexpected strain the arm was placing on his body was growing evident on his face as he replied, "I thought I knew." But his foe was already unconscious, his demon returned to its tube due to the failsafe built into every U.N. owned summoner's tubes. He turned his head to look at his arm, and saw that it was dripping some kind of substance that burned through the pavement from the tips of the fingers. "That can't be good."

After Shinji's arm returned to normal and he passed out a few moments later, a black car drove up to his unconscious body. The grey-haired driver stepped out and dialed a number after withdrawing his phone. "It's me. I've found the designated Third Child; I don't see any sign of Ayanami around here."

"_Bring him in for questioning. He might not have her now, but he probably knows where she is. And Naoya," _the head of Section-2 continued, _"Good job."_

* * *

Terms

Platform: A small circle covered in arcane markings normally used to jump while airborne. As it is generated by demonic power, the one who created the platform may maintain it as long as they continue putting energy into it.

Juujin: Used to refer to humans who fused their body with a demon while keeping their human soul mostly intact. Referred to by some as 'Pseudo-Fiends', usually by true demons and part demons. The act of fusing with a demon is seen as the greatest sin that can be committed by a human.

Gedou: A demon that is unable to properly create a physical body. Also used to refer to the human hosts that allow the demon to take control of their minds.

* * *

Please note; I _will_ likely end up spoiling almost _every _installment in the SMT franchise through the course of this fic, simply because of the involvement of characters from those games.

On a related note, if you would like a particular character to make an appearance, tell me and I'll see if I can work him/her in.


	4. Enemies of Enemies

Again, sorry this took so long, I just wasn't sure which characters/groups to introduce this chapter. Once I'd decided which one I wrote for, I broke a couple of fingers in my right hand, so this chapter was a bitch to type. Now, answering reviews.

Gryphon117: Raidou shows up this chapter, and I made it fairly obvious who she was before becoming Raidou too.

maniakmastah: this story will not have specific Law and Chaos Heroes, though there will be a couple of characters that could fit the roles. In this story, Belial and Nebiros (if I include them at all) will likely appear briefly under the command of a summoner. And as for Musubi, there is no one working on Reason path's from Nocturne, because all of them failed. Musubi is not what you probably thought it was.

* * *

"What is our current status?" asked Gendo Ikari.

Having drawn the short straw a few minutes ago, Ritsuko Akagi was the first to deliver her report in regards to the rather poor situation NERV was in. "We're currently working on the errors recorded with Unit-00 during the previous activation test. We estimate that we'll have it ready in three weeks. Of course," she glanced to her counterpart from Section-2, "Until we recover the pilot, it won't do us any good."

The NERV commander asked from behind his desk, "And Unit-01?"

"That's… somewhat more complicated. It has erected a passive AT-Field around itself, blocking most of our attempts to access any of the internal equipment." _'If it's even still there.' _It's been maintaining the AT-Field since the battle with the Angel. None of the equipment we've tried to use has been able to so much as chip the armor it developed, and its arms have gone from glowing purple to a dim red, though at this time we have no idea what, if any, relevance that has. We also have no idea how the Third was able to control it at this point, but it's possible that the Evangelion is awake. We have little reason to believe that anyone other than Shinji Ikari could make Unit-01 do so much as twitch. As head of Section-1, I recommend the immediate transfer of Evangelion Unit-02 to Tokyo-3 and to expedite the development of Units 03-05."

"I have already spoken with the committee on this matter. They do not see the need to allow us a third Evangelion after one was enough to easily defeat the Angel."

"I see sir. If you'll excuse me, I have other things I need to attend to."

As Akagi left the room, the commander shifted his gaze over to the head of Section-2. "How is the search for Pilot Ayanami proceeding?"

Kinshiro Kuroda fought off the urge to say that she was probably safer than when she was alone with the commander, saying aloud, "We have agents searching the city for any trace of her location, but it's unlikely that we'll be able to locate her until the Third awakens. He's currently unconscious in holding cell C04, same as when Naoya Nanami retrieved him. Based on his state of unconsciousness at the scene, it's possible that he was part of a larger group that decided he was no longer necessary. We need to consider the possibility that even _he_ doesn't know where she is. There's also another matter."

"Which is…?"

"The Third enrolled in school today; they may begin asking questions about where he is. It shouldn't be too much of a concern for now though, as I have a friend in the local hospital that was willing to alter the records to make it appear that he suffered an accident and is still in critical condition."

"I see. Inform me as soon as he awakes; I want to be there for the interrogation." Kuroda shivered slightly hearing how little the man across the room from him cared about his own (alleged) son. "Dismissed."

* * *

'_Why's it so hot?'_ was Shinji's first thought, followed after he'd sat up and looked around with _'Where am I?'_

The first question was answered as he looked around and saw that several portions of the wall were burning. _'No, not burning… More like molten carvings.' _His eyes widened as he realized, _'I can read this!' _"'Here lies the cage of Nelo Angelo, the accursed spawn of he that dared rebel against the Morning Star. For attempting to follow in the footsteps of his father, his soul shall be eternally bound to this place by the will of the God of Chaos.' Who's Nelo Angelo?" _'And more importantly, how did I get pulled into the realm of the Fallen One?'_

"'Who was he' indeed." Shinji spun around to see… a blond girl maybe a couple of years older than him. He vaguely noticed the mismatched red and blue eyes as his attention was drawn to the zweihander she was leaning on. "Although, a better question might be… 'Who are _you_?' Because I'm sure I've never seen you here before."

"My name's Shinji. Now who the hell are you?"

"'Shinji', is that your human name? I was asking about the name that matters." the Caucasian girl replied.

"It's good enough for now. Are you going to answer my question?"

Smirking, she replied, "To use your phrasing, the name Louisa will do for now. And as to your other question, there are many possible answers, fitting for one who went by so many titles. Nelo Angelo, the Dark Slayer, Son of Sparda, Vergil."

'_Son of Sparda? He had a kid? I thought those rumors about him showing up during WW 2 were just that; rumors.'_ Shinji was thinking in overdrive._ 'So, his son tried to finish the job he started, and instead he got himself captured and enslaved to the very demon he was fighting against.'_

He was brought out of his thoughts when Louisa spoke again. "Alright, I've given you the answer to your question, so your soul belongs to me now." She raised her left hand _just_ casually enough that it was obvious something was about to happen.

Shinji had just enough time to think _'what the hell?' _before being struck in the chest by a bolt of red energy. The assault slammed him into the pillar he had been reading from, holding him there as he convulsed with the energy flowing into him. Unfamiliar images assaulted his mind; being approached by a bald man in a suit with a strange disfigurement to his face, looking down at a man with a red coat, stabbing the coated man atop the tower, betrayal by the bald man, fighting alongside the red-coated man against a purple blob, another fight against the man, slashing at his hand while falling into Hell, charging three red orbs in the Room of the Fallen Ones, being struck by a bolt of red-

Shinji fell against the wall, gasping, while Louisa looked on with mild amusement. "My my… it's been some time since anyone was able to shrug that off. In fact, I think I'll let you live."

"'Let me live?' I don't recall giving you the authority to decide whether I live or die. You'll let me live? Who or what the Hell are you to decide that!"

The girl's eyes began to glow as she melted into her own shadow, which was beginning to spread throughout the room. She reappeared behind Shinji, whispering into his ear, "Do you truly think your simple mind could even begin to comprehend the nature of _my _existence?" Shinji moved away as he turned to face her, but before he could reply, Louisa bellowed out, **"I am a being that could destroy you with but a thought. The demon whose power you have only begun to tap into could not stand against a mere Fraction of my Power. Have no doubt, compared to most of your demon brethren, you are indeed powerful. But, before me, you an insignificant Insect. As you are now you could not even injure entities that could barely land a scratch upon one such as I. The fact that you were just barely able to resist that which your father could not withstand says nothing of any power you claim to hold, only that you are more stubborn than he."**

The girl waved her arm and Shinji's consciousness began to fade away. _'She knows… who my father is?'_

"**Those who bare **_**His**_** blood have potential. If you seek knowledge, if you seek power, then come to me," **were the last words Shinji heard before slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

The nurse placed her hand on her shoulder and said, "I'm sorry Miss Horaki. We'll do everything we can to help him, but-"

"I know." The man lying before her was connected to several machines, and on a substantial quantity of pain-killers. He'd been unconscious since he was brought in three days ago, with three fractured and four broken ribs, and the area of his chest above them covered in severe chemical burns.

From something that had also burnt through his clothes.

'_Even if sensei survives, he won't be able to continue his duties as Geirin XXI. I did the right thing by asking her to come here, didn't I? I can't be expected to handle this city all by myself, can I?'_

The girl was pulled out of her thoughts when a new voice said, "Is this Daisuke Horaki's room?"

* * *

"The event earlier was only the first," said the robed man to the gathering crowd. "But fear not! This is naught but another test that God has set upon us. Thousands of years ago, God delivered an ordeal to us because of our arrogance, a test that in this modern age we have finally overcome! And so our Lord has delivered unto us a new test. One that by passing…"

'_There've been more of these freaks over the past few days than there have been for a month. It's like that incident caused these people to start multiplying. Of course, there's probably a lot of people that joined up with them _because_ of the incident.'_ The boy adjusted his glasses and said, "You say that the incident two weeks ago was a test from God."

The robed man looked down and said, "That is true, my child."

"Then how do you propose we work our way out of it? God didn't give us an immediate solution after the Tower of Babel, and I don't think we're going to get as much time to figure it out this time."

A look of annoyance flashed across the cultist's face before he answered, "It is true that there once would have been nothing we could do before such an ordeal. But there is no need to be concerned! For we have found a way to defend ourselves through the might of God. But the few of us will not be able to do it alone. I implore you all… Stand with the Shomonkai and withstand God's ordeal!"

The crowd began to disperse as the boy started laughing at the answer he had received. "You actually think a half-assed explanation like that will be enough to convince people? 'We will survive a test of God by using God's power to fight God'. That's what you're telling us will happen."

"You simply do not understand. If you return during the next three days, then I will provide proof that we Can harness the power of His Majesty."

* * *

"I came as soon as I heard about what happened," said the new arrival. "Has anyone provided you with the details of the incident?"

Hikari shook her head. "The doctors here are all normal people. Doctor Hiraga is one of the best in the country, but he doesn't know anything about demons, so he wouldn't know what he needs to be looking for."

Examining the old man, the blue capped woman said, "The burns around his chest seem consistent with-" the new arrival was cut off by the ringing of her phone. "Excuse me." The woman turned away as she spoke into the phone. "I'm in the middle of-… What do you mean you already know? … If you know that, then why would you tell me to-? … You're serious. Fine." She shoved her phone back into her pocket.

Seeing the other woman shaking, Hikari asked, "What's wrong?"

The blue capped woman responded, "We've been relayed orders from the Committee. Because Daisuke Horaki is currently incapable of fulfilling his responsibilities, the two of us will oversee your training and assignments. The first of these will be for me to babysit you as you eliminate a group of summoners planning a demonstration tomorrow. The demons in your grandfather's possession will be passed onto you under my discretion. And finally, you are hereby granted the title of Geirin Kuzunoha XXII by my authority as Raidou Kuzunoha XIX."

"The title of… I'm not ready for something like that! And what about Grandfather? He could still recover!"

Raidou answered, "They don't care whether or not he'll eventually heal, the only thing they care about is the fact that he isn't able to do anything right this moment. They view Devil Summoners as tools to be disposed of whenever they break, easily replaceable. That's the kind of system that we allowed ourselves to be caught up in. The once great Kuzunoha Summoning Clan, reduced to shock troops for the UN. Pathetic when you stop to think about it, isn't it?" _'But maybe… just maybe… it doesn't have to stay this way.'_

* * *

As Raidou was walking away from the hospital, a voice came from the large bag at her side. "You shouldn't say such things around the child, Raidou; especially when we don't know if she will support the course you have chosen."

"I'm aware of that, but I likely would have spoken such whether I had made this choice or another. And I didn't hear you disagreeing with me."

"It's not that I don't agree with the choice you made, and it is a shame to see what happened to the clan I served for so long; but if she reports that you've been displaying suspicious behavior, you could be executed."

"They could try to execute me, and I would welcome it. It would give me an excuse to leave their service instead of waiting around for him to gather resources and give the order to begin Musubi."

A third voice interjected, "You should be more careful when discussing such things. And really, you should be more careful about speaking to your teacher out in public; people might think you're insane."

"How long have you been listening, Shinji?" asked the woman.

"Long enough to know that you said something that could have compromised what I've been working on for three years to a girl younger than yourself. What happened?"

"Due to injuries suffered in the line of duty, Geirin Kuzunoha XXI has had his title removed, and it was prematurely passed down to his student. I gave a cynical answer when she said she wasn't ready. The only member of your plan at risk is me, and she's got too many other things on her mind to occupy her instead of a cynical answer from a coworker."

Shinji muttered, "So he was able to survive that hit…"

Raidou shouted, "So you saw the one who attacked him?"

"Saw the one? I _was_ the one-" Shinji ducked beneath a bullet. "Damnit Kuzunoha! You know I don't like getting shot in the head! (It's almost as bad as getting shot in the ass.) Try letting me explain what happened first!"

"What kind of excuse could you have! After all that about not bringing in anyone we wouldn't trust with our lives and making sure not to draw attention, you pull something like this! Against a member of my family!"

"That bastard summoned _MADA_ in the middle of the street! If I hadn't taken him down there, he would have killed dozens of people with that damn giant. And even though I didn't give the damn thing the opportunity to do so much as move, there were still seventeen deaths and forty injuries resulting from 'A sudden collapse of multiple walls the cause of which is still unknown.' And you're saying I was wrong to take him down? I was the one performing _his _duty; protecting civilians!"

The woman holstered her pistol, saying, "Sorry; I thought I learned not to jump to conclusions during that incident."

"Don't worry about it, Alice did worse to me while she was learning necromancy. So, what is it that'll be distracting your friend?"

"Orders from the Council. I'm to keep an eye on her while she eliminates a group of Summoners."

"Eliminate? Isn't that supposed to be Kyouji's job?" asked Shinji.

"Every one of the Four Great Summoners has been used to do the UN's dirty work since we were integrated into its Summoning Corps. Every Kuzunoha wouldn't be enough for all the dirty jobs they want done. Officially, this assignment is supposed to double as an exam of practical ability for her, but-" she was cut off by Shinji.

"But it's actually to make sure she doesn't have a problem with killing fellow human beings for no better reason than the fact that she was ordered to, right?"

Raidou nodded. "Exactly. This kind of thing is why I was willing to work with you."

Shinji grinned. "Well that, and the fact that Izanagi-no-Okami threatened to remove _them_ from your service, right?"

"That had nothing to do with it, brat." She swung her fist at him, only for her eyes to widen as it passed through his chest.

"You call me a brat, but I'm taller than you are." He looked down at her arm. "You know, it's kind of rude to keep your arm shoved into my chest."

She smirked as she answered, "You're not in your body right now, so it doesn't count as having my arm through it. Although this raises the question, why aren't you in your body right now? Did you let Victor experiment on you again?"

"You think I'd let that nutcase mess around with my body again after what happened _last_ time?" was the indignant reply. "I got temporarily pulled out of my body for a quick trip to Hell after my fight with Geirin."

Raidou's face grew serious as her bag asked, "What were you doing in Hell?"

"Read a couple of carvings in the wall, had a chat with something that may or may not have been the Devil, and found out I might be related to something called Nelo Angelo. You ever heard of him? The thing I talked to said he had something to do with Sparda."

Raidou frowned. "I've never heard of him, but I haven't had much education about Sparda and what he did. All I know is that he rebelled against Lucifer during the most recent known Conception. I don't know anything about his associates."

Her bag sighed. "Honestly, what are they teaching you kids at the Academy these days?"

"I didn't go to the Academy, remember sensei? I got all of my training in the field."

Shinji answered, "The Academy wouldn't accept something like me as anything other than target practice."

The bag responded, "Still, someone should have mentioned where the Dark Realm came from at _some_ point to you. The exact details are unknown, since most people are never even aware that a Conception occurred, but I'll tell you what I was taught."

"The most recent Conception was about two thousand years ago. However, it could be said that that Conception is still going on in a way, because this world doesn't have a Reason supporting it. After a human-turned-demon killed Kagatsuchi, as well as every person who supported a Reason and the demonic sponsors of the Reasons, Lucifer presented him with one final task.

To kill the traitor now known as the Dark Knight."

The other two simultaneously interjected, "Sparda."

"Yes, Sparda. He knew that what had occurred was leading to something that could easily end all of creation. So, using his sword as an interface with the Amala Network, he forcibly reset creation, creating what we refer to as the Dark Realm to act as a barrier between the humans and demons while acting a reality's foundation in place of a Reason. However, the new demon who called himself Hito-Shura interrupted the ceremony atop the main server of the Amala Network, also known as Temen-ni-gru, causing several discrepancies in this world such as Hell Gates. A relative peace resulted from this which lasted until the Second World War, the first time demons were ever used in the theater of human war. You know how things deteriorated from there; the UN was formed, they created an international Summoner Corps, they were taken over by SEELE, Second Impact happened, and they began cracking down on anyone or anything that displayed the slightest connection to demons."

Shinji was the first to respond to the history lesson. "You forgot to mention the part where Sparda had at least one kid."

"What are you talking about?" asked Raidou.

"One of the titles the thing I met in Hell gave to Nelo Angelo was Son of Sparda. There was also an engraving that implied that he'd tried to fight against Lucifer."

The bag sighed again. "All right Shinji, we'll be sure to see if we can get any information about this 'Nelo Angelo'. In the meantime, you should get back to your body."

"Guess you're right. It's been… what, three days since the battle? My body's probably in the Geofront by now." Shinji faded through the street to go find his body.

_

* * *

_

The next day

Raidou looked over at her cousin, already regretting what she was about to do for the sake of maintaining cover. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

The reply was clipped. "Of course I am, I've been training for years to serve this purpose."

The first to bare the name of Raidou Kuzunoha simply sighed to himself. _'It was bad enough when we had to kill our own countrymen to preserve peace. Now we have children being used to perform massacres.'_

Seeing the apparent leader of the group walk up to the podium as two hooded men carried one box each, Raidou steeled herself as she ordered the beginning of what would be the most recent source of nightmares for her.

* * *

The apparent leader of the group removed what appeared to be a game system from one of the boxes. A brown-haired boy with glasses in the crowd chuckled as he saw what had been removed. "Check it out! This guy got a hold of the power of God with a Gameboy."

Indeed, the apparent leader was now holding up what appeared to be a portable game system as he shouted "LOKI!" As the man shouted, the screen of the device lit up as the Trickster appeared in a bolt of black lightning, with a clear look of resentment from his jet black eyes at the human whose will he had been bound to.

The assembled crowd began buzzing with excitement. "Is this for real?" "Did he just summon a?"

Kensuke Aida just muttered to himself, "Those myths and rumors were true; it's really possible to summon demons to do our bidding…"

* * *

Her eyes widening in recognition of the demon that had been summoned, Raidou shouted to her younger ally. "Stay away from their leader and the demons he summons! You aren't ready to fight against things like Loki! Take out the rest of the summoners and establish a perimeter with your demons! I'll handle the memory alterations once the battle's over."

Hikari nodded in acknowledgement as she summoned Cerberus, which bounded forward to devour one of the robed summoners holding a box. At a command from his summoner, Loki used a Garudyne to blast Cerberus off of the stage just before being tackled by the Yoshitsune Raidou summoned. The contents of the box he held, as well as the box his now fleeing companion had held, spilled out into the crowd.

Having been the faster and more experienced of the two, Raidou was the first to emerge, firing magnetite infused bullets at the leader. This proved a wasted effort, as every bullet either missed or simply stopped short. She asked the man before her, "What are you?"

The man smirked as he answered, "We of the Shomonkai have acquired divine power. Such pathetic attempts to combat us with human weapons will do nothing."

Raidou matched the leader's smirk with one of her own, saying, "You say you've been divinely blessed. That's quite a coincidence." Darkness began to swirl around her, contracting as if moving to crush her.

The cult leader smiled as he saw the Mudoon Loki had used begin to choke the summoner, only to change to a look of horror as the attack dissipated, his foe seeming completely unharmed. "You can't be human!"

Raidou's grin widened as she saw the enemy preparing to run. "I assure you that I'm a pure-blooded human." She looked back at the two demons battling behind her, giving the order, "Yoshitsune, finish it" as she began pursuing the fleeing cultist.

The man hadn't even run half a kilometer before turning around to try and fight. _'Loki was occupying almost all of my COMP's memory, but she doesn't seem to have any demons out either. I can take her down if I can attack before she can summon a new demon. I won't fall here!'_ Having gained confidence from this thought, the man skidded to a halt before turning and firing a Hama.

Upon seeing the glowing tags attach themselves to his pursuer, the man grinned; only for his optimism to be crushed as Raidou completely ignored the instant-death skill. However, he saw that at some point during the chase, Raidou had lost the strap her demon-containing tubes were in. "I don't believe you can be human. You shrug off things that would kill man and demon alike with a single strike."

He held up his device, only to see two demons appear on screen while attempting to use the COMP's Analyze function. "What the? Why am I getting results from demons? You don't have any summoned!"

The only response he received from Raidou was the raising of her pistol.

The man grinned as he said, "You aren't that bright. I've told you; that won't work on-"

She fired the gun as she said, "Yamato-Takeru." The sound of a bullet being fired was followed almost instantly by the sound of shattering glass.

The bullet took on the shape of the demon, and as his death approached, the man could only think, _'You bastard… You tipped them off, didn't you? To get access to our-'_

And then he thought no more.

* * *

All right, got what I needed in there. Now, here's a timeline for the current cycle of creation. (Italicized events occur exactly as they did in the listed game, save necessary adjustments to accommodate Second Impact.)

Creation: Sparda rebels against Lucifer/Helel/Mundus/Whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-him, resets the universe by creating the Dark Realm to hold it together in place of a Reason. Sparda disappears and a war that could end all creation is temporarily averted.

1931: _Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs The Soulless Army _

1939: Adolf Hitler orders the invasion of Poland, introducing Devil Summoners to the human theatre of war.

1944: Sparda appears for the first time in almost two-thousand years leading Operation Valkyrie. Mission fails, Hitler narrowly survives.

1945: Germany surrenders, Adolf Hitler declared dead. United Nations Charter signed, organization is infiltrated by SEELE within five years.

1956: Japan joins United Nations; United Nations integrate the Kuzunoha Summoning Clan as members of it's standing military; UN begins a reign of tyranny against those possessing demonic power they cannot control, all unregistered summoners and demons are to be executed on sight.

1984: Sparda fathers twins Vergil and Dante with the human woman Eva. Sparda is soon after killed protecting his family from a horde of demons led by Naoki Kashima.

1991: Eva killed by demons; Dante and Vergil separated.

1992: _Shin Megami Tensei: Persona_

1996: _Persona 2_

2000: Yui Ikari impregnated; Second Impact occurs.

2001: Shinji Ikari is born.

2002: _Devil May Cry 3_

2004: Yui Ikari absorbed by Evangelion Unit 01

2008: _Devil May Cry 1_; _Persona 3_

2010: Shinji Ikari calls upon demonic power to survive, begins to learn of human prejudice against those with demonic power; begins fighting to survive against students of the UN Summoner Academy (Japanese Branch).

2011: _Persona 4_

2012: Shinji meets and forges a contract with the demon Alice.

2013: Raidou Kuzunoha XIX claims her title; is quickly recruited by Shinji Ikari.

2014: _Current Events_

Any questions, comments, or concerns?


	5. I Shall Call it Shagiel

Okay, this was finished faster than I'd thought it would be. Don't expect it to happen again. Also, one of two humans who could currently beat Shinji in a fight taunts him a bit in this chapter.

P.S. Don't say you never associated this title with Shamshel, because lying is wrong.

* * *

Due to a lack of information about the target, the mission was a failure. Every one of the designated targets was killed, without exception. But that didn't change the facts.

The people who attended the demonstration were not supposed to use the devices the cult had been using to summon fifty uncontrolled demons.

No one was supposed to escape after gaining the ability to summon those demons.

Seventy-five innocent people weren't supposed to die.

But nothing in this world goes as it should.

* * *

Things weren't going much better for NERV.

Some might question how an organization expected to protect all of humanity could be much worse off than having no pilots and no operational weapons.

Misato Katsuragi issued orders to find whoever had tempted fate with such thoughts and shoot him or her on sight.

The sole reason for this was that Shinji had not been happy when he found his body had just been left sitting in the same place for four days.

He also didn't have any reason to hold back.

'_Never make a threat you aren't willing to follow through on,'_ Shinji thought as he broke down the door to his cell. _'It makes you look weak. So now I have to break Karina out of here.'_ He smiled as he saw the three guards stationed outside draw their firearms.

He can't really be blamed for wanting a little revenge.

* * *

Almost every demon to hold more power than average inevitably develops a habit that would be frowned upon by human society. Naoki Kashima took to eating live humans. Shinji spent most of his spare time planning for every combat scenario he could imagine. Most gods of several pantheons competed to seduce humans.

Alice played with dead things.

Not dead plants either; she liked to use the corpses of dead combatants, for a variety of purposes. Toys, playmates, cleaning staff, weapons; the list goes on.

However, as the bodies of most demons completely collapse into dust or a primordial soup after dying, she didn't have much time to practice utilizing corpses. Fortunately for her own training purposes, the event humanity refers to as Second Impact left billions of corpses for her to practice with.

Victor was kind enough to keep a hundred of them in the Gouma-den for her to practice with at all times.

She had spent the last three days training with them. While it was useful to be able to raise a hundred soldiers that felt no pain and followed any order, it was rather disturbing to know that any ninety-five of them could be wiped out by five carefully controlled _skeletons_.

After taking out another wave of zombies, Alice allowed the skeletons she was controlling to collapse. _'I've spent too much time focusing on numbers, not enough on quality.'_ Aloud, she said, "I'm taking a break, Victor. You mind cleaning this up for me?"

The man pressed the button for the intercom in the observation deck. "I'd expected to get stuck doing that anyway." Before he could finish speaking, Alice thanked him and left. The man said to himself, "At least I got some good data."

* * *

NERV Section-2 was pissing itself.

At 11:54, the cell Shinji Ikari was being held in had been destroyed.

At 11:56, the agents sent to check the cell had found the three guards assigned to watch the cell with swords through their hearts.

At 11:58, they found Shinji was leaving a trail of Section-2 corpses leading to the Eva cages.

* * *

At the same time, Rei was finally waking up.

Under present circumstances, this was not a good thing.

The only people who knew which demon had been involved with the creation of Rei and were still alive were Gendo Ikari, Ritsuko Akagi, and key members of SEELE.

Victor, Shinji, and Alice were none of these people.

As such, they could not have known that when Rei woke up, she would begin attempting to get into the pants of anything that moved.

"What the _hell_!"

Hence, Alice's surprise when Rei began groping her upon her return to the room Victor lent them. However, Alice was a smart demon. Because of this, it didn't take her long to put two and two together and do the smart thing.

Run away very quickly from the horny succubus.

* * *

Shinji was completely unaware of what was occurring in the Gouma-den, instead commanding the swords he summoned to fly out and kill the line of Section-2 Agents.

"Your men shot at me first. I'd advice you instruct them to stop doing that and allow me to proceed to the cage you're keeping mother locked up in." Shinji knew that Karina was a different entity from his mother. However, he also knew that the possibility of his precious Yui still being separate from the Eva would cause Gendo to lose sight of his objective, which would lead to him making bad decisions. _'Now that she's free from that restraint they had her in, she's giving off enough demonic power that anyone with even the slightest amount of extra magnetite in their system would be able to find her. The Magatsuhi in my system makes it impossible for me to _not_ be able to find her.'_

The half-devil was brought out of his thoughts by a gunshot, quickly followed by the shattering of the camera he had just spoken to. Shinji conjured another sword and sent it flying in the direction the bullet came from. However, instead of the sound of the blade piercing the shooter's body, the sound that met his ears was clapping.

Turning to face the thing that was not only confident enough to mock him with this clapping but apparently skilled enough to justify that confidence, he saw a Section-2 agent with long grey hair.

The man said, "2.96 seconds."

"What?"

The now smirking man answered, "That's how long your little trick takes. 2.37 seconds to generate a single blade, .59 seconds for the blade to rotate by one hundred and eighty degrees. Of course, it takes a little longer than that when you factor in the travel speed of 57.4 kilometers per hour."

Shinji was thinking, _'How does he know that? I only managed to generate these swords a couple of weeks ago, and I didn't even know the exact speed of rotation.'_ He opened the second layer of his seal as he asked, "Who or what are you?"

The man spread his arms as he replied, "I am the loyal son of a family of captives and traitors. I am one who has been cursed by God for choosing to follow my own path. I am the one who found the ancient common tongue and made it into a weapon." Shinji caught sight of a COMP clipped to the man's belt without realizing the significance as he lowered his arms. "But you can call me Naoya; it's the name I've been using for the past twenty-four years."

Shinji began running through every possibility he could think as to who this man was. _'Cursed by God… _Re_discovered the ancient common tongue… been using…'_ "You opposed Him, didn't you? You won a battle against Him and for rising against your creator, he sentenced you to an eternity of reincarnation. An eternity that you would spend stripped of the power you used to fight against him. Isn't that right… Aleph?"

'Naoya' began laughing as he walked towards the younger man. "You were so close… and I did once have the good fortune to meet with that amazing man, though I couldn't possibly hope to compare to him in my current state. Or ever, actually; my very soul is incapable of harnessing that kind of power." A spike of ice rose to block the sword Shinji sent flying towards him. "However, that certainly doesn't mean that I'm unable to defend myself."

"The way you're talking, I'm tempted to think that you can't use demonic power, or use your own magnetite to summon a demon. But you've found a way to bypass that limitation, that's why you were able to block my sword with a bufu." Shinji ignored the slight tingling he felt once he was within twenty meters of Naoya. "I'm guessing there's more to your summoning program than the one Steven wrote all those cycles of creation ago, isn't there?"

Still walking, Naoya replied, "That's right. My little invention includes all of the necessary rituals to truly summon a demon, a storage system that will allow me to carry summoned demons with me more effectively than the tubes used by the UN, a system to enhance my magnetite flow beyond the limitations He imposed upon me, the ability to directly use demonic skills myself, and the true pinnacle of my work." He jumped the remaining five meters towards Shinji, sending him flying into the wall with a punch to the face.

* * *

Alice slammed the door shut behind her as she entered Victor's lab.

"What's wrong Alice?"

Rei began trying to melt the door down as Alice replied, "Get a portal open to where Shinji is, right now."

* * *

'_How did he? Even if he has magnetite enhancing his strikes… he shouldn't have been strong enough to knock me down the damn hall.'_ As his nose began to fix itself, he asked, "What the hell have you done? How many people have gotten a hold of those things? _Do you realize what you've unleashed on the world!_"

Naoya was still smirking. "I'm well aware of what I've created. But you really should calm down. The magnetite enhancing system is directly attuned to my body, so anyone else who uses one of the modified COMPs I've created won't receive nearly as many benefits as I do. Though this system won't help demons out in the slightest."

'_I can't afford to have a threat like this running around outside of my control.'_ "So you're saying that you're the only one who will receive benefits like this from the COMPs you've created?"

Naoya shook his head at the boy before him. "For the moment, yes. However, I have a couple of other specially designed ones that I haven't handed over yet." He slid to the right to dodge the sword Shinji sent flying towards him.

Shinji summoned another sword as he began running towards Naoya. "If I take you down now, things will be able to proceed as planned!"

Two things happened as Shinji tried to summon enough swords to prevent Naoya from dodging or blocking. First, the sword in his hand turned into a ball of flame that shot outward. Second, a portal appeared behind Shinji and two pale arms pulled him through.

* * *

Shinji was flailing as Alice and Victor dragged him towards the only door into or out of the room. "Let go of me! Send me back!"

Victor shouted into his face, "This is more important!" He hit the button to open the door and the pair threw Shinji onto Rei, who had a predatory grin.

_

* * *

_

17 hours 34 minutes later

Alice and Victor were distracted from their card game as Shinji stumbled through the door, the scraps of clothing that had survived his encounters with Geirin XXI and Naoya torn off of him. He shakily raised an accusing finger, unsure of whether he should be pointing at the human who likely caused the original situation or the demon who likely suggested throwing him at the horny succubus. "I hate you both… so, _so_ much."

As he turned to walk away, Victor and Alice saw Rei, apparently asleep, holding onto his leg with a content smile on her face. Alice asked, "Where are you going?"

"My body spent four days doing nothing but sitting in a cell after fighting one of the Four Great Summoners of the Kuzunoha Clan, and in the eighteen hours since I broke out of that cell, I fought another summoner, blew up my own arm, and was molested by a succubus. I'm taking a fucking _shower_!"

Victor said just loud enough for Shinji to hear, "I'm sure Rei will make sure the shower is as you described." He fell back as a sword flew towards him, pinning the cards in his hand to the wall.

"Got any sixes?"

* * *

Raidou holstered her pistol as she said, "That's the last of the demons. We probably won't be able to find the summoners until they make the first move, so we should take the opportunity to rest."

Hearing this, Hikari succumbed to gravity. "Whew, I'm exhausted."

Her superior looked at her, saying, "We're going to have to work on that."

"What do you mean Naoto?"

"You've done nothing but run along with me for the past three hours, and you cough blood when you summon a second demon."

The younger girl began to protest, "But I'm-"

She was cut off by Raidou. "At a level that is barely above average for someone who has completed a third of their training. As one who bares the name of one of our clan's Four Great Summoners, you must be able to fight for days on end, you must become a master at manipulating the magnetite in your system, and you must be able to handle the strain of summoning enough demons to battle an army." To emphasize her point, she summoned a pair of Badb Cathas that they would use as transportation home.

Hikari gaped seeing her cousin, who had been a below average summoner four years ago, able to summon those two demons simultaneously without the slightest apparent strain. "How can you still have enough energy to summon those?"

As she mounted one of the giant birds she summoned, Raidou answered, "I spent two weeks in what was effectively a maze where I couldn't see the walls and enemies waited around every corner. The slightest movement was enough to induce fatigue, I had no way of knowing how much time was passing, and didn't know where it would be safe to sleep. I had a choice to grow stronger, or die. This is nothing compared to what I've been through. I fought on this scale twice a week in that place when I was only a year older than you are now. If you plan on becoming Geirin, you have a long way to go." _'I left out the part about how I pushed myself so far that Yamato-Takeru won't answer my summons for awhile. If something comes up, I'll have to rely on Sukuna-Hikona.'_

Hikari struggled onto the back of the other demon, collapsing on its back. _'I'll become worthy of being your successor… grandfather. Right… after… I… rest.'_

* * *

With Rei… satisfied, the other three occupants of the Gouma-den were assessing the current situation.

"My original plan needs to be modified to account for these unforeseen factors. With Karina's power, we may be able to move the time-table up by a few months. Victor, do you have room here for Karina once I've liberated her from NERV?"

The man answered, "Sorry, but it'll take at least a week to set up a room just for her to stand up in, much less move around."

Shinji said, "I see. We'll have to focus on that later. What have you figured out about Rei?"

"Aside from the fact that she's a succubus?" At Shinji's irritated nod, Victor continued. "The awakening of her demonic power had a stronger effect than anticipated. I'm not sure how much of her old personality is left, because things like that can cause some pretty serious thinking about your life-"

"I know that better than you do Victor. Is she still loyal to Rokubungi?"

"Unlikely. From the information we have on them, the demon wouldn't allow itself to remain so subservient to someone so much weaker without being tricked into making a contract, and that couldn't have been done unless her demonic power was already awake. Given these factors and her… meeting… with you, she will likely be more loyal to you than him."

Shinji's head slammed down against the table the group was centered around, laying stationary for a few seconds before Alice asked, "Did he knock himself out again?"

Her answer came when his somewhat muffled voice said, "Someone please explain why her molesting me means I have her loyalty."

At a motion from Victor, Alice began to explain. "She's a succubus now, you're the one who brought her here, and you're the one who shagged her; that's how they form contracts. I thought it would be better for her to end up contracted with you than Victor, since you'll be out fighting sooner or later and Victor has more than enough guards."

Shinji was silent for a few moments, before saying, "There's one more thing we need to discuss."

Victor was the one to answer him. "You mean that Naoya guy?"

Shinji rubbed his nose as he nodded. "Yeah, the guy said he opposed God and he was strong enough to knock me down the hall. He also said something about giving that kind of power to others."

Alice was the one to ask, "Do you have any ideas about who he could be?"

"I'm not sure about anything except that he isn't Aleph. He was very precise in telling me that he wasn't him. I have a couple of other ideas about who he is or was, but it doesn't matter. Victor, I need you to use your contacts in the UN to find this guy. We can't afford to have someone with that kind of power running around unaligned. I have to find him and either recruit him or destroy him." Shinji stood up and began to walk out of the room. "I'll discuss this with Naoto in the morning. Dismissed."

Alice commented to Victor, "He's certainly adapting to the leadership role better than I ever did." She sighed before continuing. "I just hope he'll be strong enough to survive if his plans go awry."

Victor bowed to the demon. "Then we must do everything we can to ensure his plans are successful, Your Majesty."

"Please don't address me by that title. I was exiled by my own subjects for my inaction, and my kingdom is now in a civil war. I don't deserve to be referred to with such respect."

* * *

The next morning, Shinji made good on his promise to contact Naoto.

"_I don't want you to try and hunt him down yourself."_

"If he's as dangerous as you say, we need to find him as soon as possible."

"_And what will you do if someone asks why you abandoned your new post in Tokyo-3?"_ Shinji took a moment to calm himself. _"I have Victor asking his contacts for any information on him they may have. I need you to stay here in case it becomes necessary for me to become a public figure before we can begin Musubi. You know that SEELE doesn't tolerate anything it can't control, if they know that I won't be their slave they'll send every summoner in the country after me. But if they think that I answer to you…"_

"So we'll be going with public scenario B7?" asked Naoto.

"_That's right. By the way, do you know if you'll be able to convince the new Geirin to join us?"_ Convincing two people holding one of the most prestigious titles a summoner could be granted would be a major blow to enemy morale.

"It depends on where her loyalties lie. If she's already been brainwashed into being an obedient dog of SEELE, I doubt I'll be able to bring her in. But if I can convince her that her loyalty belongs to Yatagarasu-"

She was cut off by Shinji. _"Then Izanagi-no-Okami's decree to aid me would also apply to her as a vassal of Yatagarasu."_

Naoto answered into her modified phone, "That's right. It should be simple enough to- Ngh!" She grasped her head in pain.

"_Naoto! What is it? What happened?"_

Rubbing her throbbing temple, the woman answered "I can feel it. There's an Angel coming."

* * *

In the Gouma-den, Shinji was already moving. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Do you have anything that can hold it off for a few minutes?"

Naoto began to respond, _"Yeah, Geirin's Mada should be able to- Shit!"_

"What is it now?"

"_Hikari stole Daisuke's demons. I'm gonna have to find her before I can do anything else."_

"Then get moving. I should be there in five minutes. Do whatever you can to get the civilians out of there once you've found the little thief." Shinji jammed his phone in his pants pocket as he went into Victor's lab. "I need to get back to the human world, now. There's an Angel approaching the city and NERV's Evangelions are the only thing that can fight them right now, much as I hate to admit needing anything from the UN's bitch." As Victor began typing in commands, Shinji said, "And if you make me break my leg this time, I'm cutting one of yours off."

* * *

"Touji! Why aren't we going to a shelter!"

The athletic teen looked back at his spectacled friend. "You saw the class rep run off, didn't you? She might need help with something!"

A block ahead, Hikari was thinking to herself, _'I have to be stronger. With Grandpa's demons, I'll be able to prove myself to Naoto.'_ She was unconsciously rubbing the tube with Mada as she ran. _'It's getting closer.'_

Seeing the approaching entity, she fought down the urge to blush before summoning a demon.

* * *

Shinji passed through the vortex and began to fall as if he had jumped off a skyscraper. Seeing a green flash in the distance, he realized that Naoto hadn't found the kid in time. Focusing his senses, he used an Air Trick to pass straight through the protective layers of the Geofront to Karina's cage.

Ignoring the startled technicians as he entered the cage, he shouted his proposed contract from the edge of the AT Field. "In exchange for your aid, I shall grant you FREEDOM!"

"**I accept." **Arcane marks began to flow between the two, sealing the contract into their souls.

Shinji smirked as he felt Karina's presence in his mind. _'You gonna let me in?'_

'_**Of course.'**_ The barrier was dropped as Shinji jumped into the much larger demon's open mouth, it being the quickest way to be absorbed by her S2 organ. His seal was fully opened as his arms changed once again to match Karina's.

The technicians began to scramble for cover as a set of armored, purple and black arms broke free from the temporary restraints they had set up.

* * *

Seeing a four armed purple giant, the athletic teen did what felt most natural at the time.

"What the hell did you drag me into Kensuke!"

The spectacled teen looked back at his more athletic friend in disbelief. "You're the one who dragged me away from the shelter Touji! If anyone dragged someone into this, you did it!"

Distracted by their bickering, the two boys failed to notice that one of the giant monsters attacks had sent a pile of debris towards them.

"Look out you two!" The pair turned to the blue capped woman who had shouted the .warning, then looked up to see broken pieces of a building falling towards them. Seeing that the two were going to do nothing, Naoto pulled out her gun and focused. "Sukuna-Hikona! Megidola!" The deity of medicine flew out and used the almighty attack, obliterating the pieces of the building that had been above the children.

Without dismissing the persona, she continued running to the distracted summoner as the Angel bisected Mada. Ordering her persona retrieve her cousin, she begin trying to think of a way to stall her foe when a giant arm broke through the giant steel door in the road, blocking the proceeding Angel's path.

* * *

Pulling Karina's body up the launch shaft with an arm of demonic energy, Shinji could not help commenting on his foe's appearance. "It's a giant dick with two glowing tentacles." There are a few things which Shinji is currently unaware, including 1. Karina was projecting what he said, 2. Victor was using his phone to set up an audio link between Karina and the Gouma-den, and 3. Central Dogma still had a com link to what he was saying. "I shall call it Shagiel."

All who were fluent in English had separate reactions to his declaration, from Alice rolling around on the floor to Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki's sweatdrop; though the most shocking was the Angel itself.

A booming yet recognizably female voice shouted, **"I'm a GIRL you bastard!"**

As Shinji and Karina began dodging the glowing tentacles, the both of them were thinking that God was indisputably the most fucked up entity in all existence for creating something like that and making it female.

Looking down through Karina's eyes, Shinji was able to make out four people, one them being Naoto. _'We can't fight all out here in the city, there won't be any point if we destroy it at the same time as the Angel.'_

'_**Then what do you think we should do?'**_ asked Karina.

'_We'll restrain it until those four are clear, then throw it out of the city.'_

* * *

On the ground, Naoto was leading the children away from the fight. "He's not going to go all out until he at least thinks that we're out of the way. Let's get to that hill over there, he probably won't want to spread the damage any further than the part of town that's already been mostly wrecked."

Running behind her, Hikari was somewhat dubious of her new teacher's judgment. "What makes you say that? Do you know that guy?"

'_Public scenario B7.'_ "Yeah, he's part of one of the networks I set up. He's also going to be able to handle this much more effectively than either of us could."

Still a little skeptical, hearing that he'd earned praise that she likely never would for herself was enough to give her a little hope for survival.

* * *

Still dodging the glowing tentacles that were cutting through the ground and buildings around them, Shinji was starting to see a pattern to their movements. _'Two jabs from the one on the left… Followed three seconds later by a leg sweep from the one on the right immediately followed by a cross strike from them both.'_ Seeing the opening in the pattern, he conjured a sword in Karina's hand and leapt to strike.

As the glowing appendages broke from the pattern, he sent another sword flying to cut them off, only for his eyes to widen in shock as they cut through his sword like butter and continue towards him. Karina threw the sword in hand at the Angel moments before Shinji realized that they had neglected to cancel the enemies AT Field, leading to them using their own to deflect the enemy assault as their sword shattered before the enemy.

'_Damnit! That was a rookie mistake, and now I won't be able to exploit that hole again.'_

His thought process changed as the Angel that wasn't called Shagiel grabbed Karina's leg and began to swing him around until momentum built up, sending him flying into a nearby hill. As Karina neared the ground, the Angel angled itself level to the ground with its head pointed toward Karina.

* * *

Seeing the people who had taken refuge on the hill he had just landed on, and the Angel beginning to fire a Megidolaon, Shinji did what he felt he had to.

He raised an AT Field between himself and the rapidly approaching golden sphere of the almighty attack and covered the four people with Karina's body.

* * *

"What the hell's he doin?" asked Touji.

Since she was the only one who actually knew the one protecting them, the children all turned to Naoto. "The only rule Shinji has for himself in a battle is the protection of noncombatants, whether they support him or not. If he can't keep a fight in an unpopulated area, he'll do whatever he can to prevent harm from coming to people who aren't able to protect themselves."

"So he's not getting out of the way…" Kensuke said to himself, "because of us?"

Unlike the others, Hikari was thinking about who it was protecting them rather than why. _'She said 'Shinji'… could it be the new kid?' _However, her thoughts were cut short when the sphere of almighty energy hit the back of the giant shielding them.

"**GYAAAAAARRGH!"**

* * *

Collapsed on what could be considered the 'floor' of his current location, Shinji willed his system to continue regenerating as his back was torn open as Karina's was. After a few, agonizing seconds that felt as if each lasted a lifetime, he looked back through Karina's eyes and saw the giant dick rapidly approaching headfirst. Glancing down at the people he had just shielded, he decided on his course of action.

Karina rolled to her left just before the Angel arrived, carried by its momentum straight through the landmass. As Shinji moved his own hand to wipe the blood dripping down his jaw off, Karina made a similar motion with her mouth open.

'_I only have a few seconds until that bitch comes back… Focus'_ Reacting to his will, a small hole opened above him, through which three teenagers and one armed woman fell. He looked at the woman through his glowing eyes and spoke a simple greeting. "Good afternoon, boss."

Having been somewhat disoriented by the trip down the esophagus of the giant demon and being pulled into one of its organs, it was somewhat understandable for the boys to pass out at the sight of Shinji's blood-soaked back. Hikari just held her hand over her mouth as she waited for the nausea to pass before shouting, "You! You were lying last week! What's going on!"

As Shinji focused Karina's eyes on the returning Angel, he replied, "Me. Yes I was. I'm trying to keep you alive while fighting Shagiel over there."

'_**Didn't she tell you not to call her that?'**_

'_Yeah, what's your point?'_

'_**Never mind.'**_

The silent conversation between Shinji and Karina over, their attention was diverted by the glowing appendages of the Angel. The energized tentacles missed the main body as Karina slid to the right, instead grazing Karina's left arm.

Without any damage to either Shinji or Karina.

Shinji grinned as he realized what happened. _'These arms, these 'Devil Bringers', are made of whatever those things are. Which means,'_ Karina grabbed one of glowing whips of energy,_ 'I can fight back'_ and used it to swing their foe into (what Shinji was hoping) an evacuated building, only for all conscious observers to open their eyes in shock as the building exploded.

'_**Would you like to check if NERV has any useful information?'**_

'_You can do that?'_ Shinji asked as the damaged Angel rose from the burning rubble.

'_**The communication system from the restraints and interface they had attached to me is still a part of my body, I've just been cutting it off.'**_

'_If you can without reducing combat efficiency, do it.'_ Within a few seconds, a window appeared next to his head with the text 'CENTRAL DOGMA' running beneath an image of NERV's command center.

* * *

"Unit One, respond." Captain Katsuragi spoke into her headset. Having been attempting to do make contact like this for three minutes, she was getting aggravated with the little bastard on the other end. Enough so, in fact, that she removed the headset and threw it through the projected holographic screen as a window displaying the text 'Unit-01 Sound Only'.

Shinji's slightly distorted voice came through the speakers. _"Helloooo useless sacks of flesh! Care to enlighten me as to why that building blew up in such a wondrous display of effectiveness that I doubt a human constructed it?"_

Irritated with the arrogance the boy was displaying, Misato grabbed a mic and yelled, "What the hell did you think would happen when you threw the Angel into an EVANGELION ARMORY!"

* * *

The half-demon smirked as Karina grabbed one of their foe's whip-like tentacles and wrapped it around her left arm. "Well, that explains it." She used it to swing along the right side of the Angel to get behind it. "The only way that humans could make something that effective is if it couldn't be considered effective without ten times the effect shown."

The Angel's other weapon swung behind it, firing blind in its panic. Karina captured the remaining appendage and gave it the same treatment on her right arm as the other one. Satisfied with the strength she was holding them with, she jumped into the air, dragging the Angel with her. Once in the air, she pulled her foe towards her with the captured limbs. Angling her body in a way that would allow the maximum force in her strike, she met her foe with a kick to the head from her left leg.

The force of the strike was enough to knock back the cap-like head of the monstrosity, with a notable tearing sound, exposing a glowing red sphere as the momentum of the strike tore off the left appendage. Realigning herself with her target, she pulled herself toward the target once again just as it hit the ground, slamming her now free right hand through the enemy's S2 organ.

Expecting the Angel to simply collapse into a primordial soup with a burst of energy, both Shinji and Karina were surprised to see the Angel's body convert into a glowing white light as their right arms began to glow. "This is… So that's it." Shinji smiled as he began to close his fist around a condensing sphere of light, which began to take on an appearance similar to a handle, truly taking on the form once it was firmly gripped in his hand. With a flick of his wrist, a shining whip of energy similar to those of their defeated enemy extended.

A matching whip appeared in Karina's hand.

Making an experimental sweep of his new weapon, Shinji and Karina gouged a substantial portion of what had once been the only natural hill inside the city limits of Tokyo-3. "Oops?"

* * *

Shinji had refused to return to the Eva cages, instead using an Air Trick to take Karina to the outdoor area of the Geofront. After lowering the five people who had been inside her to the ground in her hand while in a kneeling position, she sent a mental message to Shinji.

'_**I'm very tired… But I won't forget your end of the Contract.'**_

"I wouldn't dream of it. I'm well aware of the consequences of failing to abide by a demonic contract." _'But we both know you're too weak to try moving out of here right now. Rest assured, I'll be back.'_

Naoto was giving her orders to her younger relative. "Do you have a demon with phantasma?"

Hikari took a quick mental inventory of the demons with her before replying, "Yeah, I have grandpa's Tlaloc."

Naoto nodded to herself. "That'll do. Take these two," she gestured to the awakening Touji and Kensuke, "back up to the surface."

"But Raidou-" Hikari began to protest before the elder summoner interrupted her.

"You'll get your explanation when _I_ think you deserve one. That certainly isn't now. And honestly? I don't know if you ever will after what you did today." She looked Hikari in the eye. "You disobeyed my orders, and because of that, we lost one of the strongest demons we had. Do you realize how much work Daisuke put into contracting that Mada?" She gave a short, dark laugh to herself before continuing. "Of course you don't, because you were given every demon you have. You've never earned the respect of, or given it to, a demon, and certainly never convinced one of them to work with you."

"Why should I respect them! It's not like they have sou-" She was cut off again when Naoto touched her forehead with the barrel of her gun.

"I'd advise you not to finish that sentence. Now get out of my sight before I put you down, because I can guarantee that it'll be a kinder death than he," Naoto gestured with her free hand toward Shinji, "would give you."

With a look of scorn on her face, Hikari summoned the Tlaloc and pulled her classmates to the surface.

* * *

Yeah, Hikari isn't very happy right now.

P.S. Devil Survivor is an awsome game.


	6. The One Undeserving of a Title

Yeah, not too proud of this chapter, not much important stuff happens in it. However, at least half of this does become relevent later on.

Gryphon117: I made Naoto the current Raidou because it makes her an extremely useful character. If there wasn't so much to be explored by doing this, she'd probably only exist to be stuffed in a fridge to set the Persona 4 team (and the Kuzunoha Clan) on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.

WiredJunkiee1100: Technically, Vergil showed up (_very_) briefly in the very first chapter, and has had a few lines already. He just hasn't been named and doesn't have a body (yet). Rest assured, Dante, Lady, and Trish will show up by the Seventh Angel, and Vergil will do something that contributes to the plot next chapter. Or the one after it.

* * *

"B7?"

Shinji gave a grin before replying, "B7, boss."

Naoto smiled internally as she realized that, however temporary, Shinji had to follow her orders now. "I don't know the layout of this place, but you do. Take me to Gendo Ikari's office."

The bloody-backed young man summoned seven swords which began to circle the pair as they proceeded to the nearest building.

"Shinji, why did you summon those things?" asked the summoner.

"The last time I was in here, I destroyed a large amount of equipment that was likely worth a considerable sum of money. The time before that, I destroyed the cell they had locked my body in and proceeded to eliminate any members of their security force that were too stupid to run. I've only had the proper clearance to enter here once, though I'm not really on record as having left the complex, so I might still technically be allowed in here. Either way, NERV isn't very fond of me and the feeling's mutual, so I want them to remember what will happen if they try anything."

Naoto nodded. "I see. Just try not to kill the command staff; we can't exactly negotiate with a group if we've killed the leader."

"I'm aware of that. I'll try to avoid killing anyone with 'Commander', 'Chairperson', or 'Director' in their job title. But I make no promises about Rokubungi." There was a noticeable clenching of his jaw as he mentioned _that_ man's name.

"I guess that's the most I could ask of you. Oh, it seems we're here already." Indeed, the building had been much closer than it appeared, and a line of Section-2 guards were quaking in their identical black suits and sunglasses at the sight of Shinji and his swords.

"Did you guys miss me?"

At Shinji's query, more than half of the present members of Section-2 took off running down the hall. All but one of those remaining fainted. _'I hate my job,'_ thought the sole remaining agent as he slowly approached the new arrivals. "Shinji I-ikari, for the crime of t-t-t-treason against NERV and, b-b-by association, the United Nations, you are under arrest. S-s-submit or I will have n-n-n-no choice but to open fire."

Naoto stepped forward and presented a sheet of paper. "You do not have the right to arrest or shoot him."

The man stepped forward to examine the I.D. as he said, "He killed my men. He d-destroyed our group's equipment. He has committed treason a-against humanity. Who are you to say that I c-c-can't arrest him?"

"I am his commanding officer, Raido Kuzunoha of the United Nations' Nineteenth Special Operations Group. He is one of my most trusted subordinates and was following my orders to avoid capture at any cost. I'm sure you've realized that allowing him to fall into the wrong hands could be disastrous."

His gun slightly lowered but still in hand, he asked, "And what about p-pilot Ayanami? The g-girl he k-k-kidnapped a few days ago," he clarified.

"That was an error on my part. I hadn't anticipated that he would meet another like him here, so I didn't give him any orders about what to do in the situation. As such, he acted on his own to undergo what he no doubt thought of as a rescue operation; one that was far too easy for him to succeed in, by the way." The man, now made even more nervous at the criticism from someone he believed to be an authority on level with his commander, began looking for some way he could escape the current situation. Unfortunately, any hope of escape he may have had was shattered as Naoto said, "I'm here to see Gendo Ikari. I presume you are aware of his location?" Without waiting for an answer from the man, she continued, "Good, take us to him."

The nameless grunt that was now sweating bullets led the way a couple of meters ahead of the pair. Low enough to avoid being overheard by the man, Shinji asked, "There's no such thing as the Nineteenth Special Operations Group. What was on the paper you showed him?"

She gave a slight grin as she replied, "You'll see soon enough."

'_She's really enjoying being in charge right now.'_

Shinji was prevented from further thoughts as the man who was ready to piss himself told them that they were at the door to the Commander's office. "Thank you. Now leave," Naoto ordered as the man fled down the corridor. She turned to her temporary subordinate and said, "If you'd be so kind," as she gestured to the door.

"My pleasure." Two of Shinji's swords left the circling formation as they moved to cut the doorframe out of the wall. Knowing that Naoto had simply meant for him to open the door and feeling her eyes digging into the back of his skull, he said, "I have a policy of damaging property that can be associated with the UN. If it turns out that NERV has nothing to do with them, I'll pay for the repairs myself." _'But we both know that won't be the case.'_ With his explanation out of the way, he stepped forward and kicked down the separated piece of wall.

He took two steps forward before being shot in the head.

Acting on instinct, he ordered his swords to the throats of every person in the room before reason retook control, stopping them just short of inflicting any fatal wounds. As Naoto followed him in with her gun drawn, he said "They fired first ma'am," without looking away from the undisputed commander of NERV and their best goatfucker, Gendo Ikari.

"Gendo Ikari, drop your weapon and order your subordinates to do the same or blades will sink into your throats and I will put a bullet in your eye." The four guards dropped their weapons as their commander slowly lowered his firearm to lie on his desk. Naoto holstered her own pistol as she turned to the fourteen year old who was taller than her. "Shinji, dismiss your swords." The two swords still circling him faded out of existence with the swords at the guards' necks. "_All_ of them."

Shinji still hadn't taken his eyes off of his alleged father. "I've wanted to send this bastard to hell for almost ten years, ma'am."

She redrew her pistol and placed it against his temple. "I gave you an order, Shinji. Remove the sword from his neck." His shoulders dropped slightly as the sword collapsed into nothingness. "That's better. Now Commander, I don't believe we have had the pleasure of meeting before. I am Captain Raidou Kuzunoha of the United Nations Nineteenth SpecOps Group. I'm here by the authority of the Council, so you don't have any right to act against me without losing your funding."

Gendo had placed his hands in what his subordinates referred to as the bastard pose. "I know for a fact that there is no 'Nineteenth SpecOps Group', and I have no knowledge of this 'Council' that ordered you here. I must therefore conclude that you are a terrorist with an advanced weapon system that you have implemented on my son, perhaps similar to the method we used. In any case, you don't have the authority to order one of NERV's janitors to wait before cleaning up a spill."

Naoto leaned on the man's desk as she said, "What name would you prefer that use for them: The Human Instrumentality Committee, the Council, SEELE? It doesn't matter, you do know who they are, just not all the name's they've gone by, and the fact remains that I am just as important to their plans as you are."

The Commander of NERV processed what he had just been told, began running through necessary changes to his scenario, and settled on one in which that SEELE had kept portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls from him that detailed the things he hadn't expected as the most likely one. "I'll accept that as fact, it's the only explanation for why the events I have not anticipated came to pass. But you still haven't explained why you're here."

"NERV has done a rather effective job combating the Angel's thus far." She got up from her position sitting on his desk. "At least I would like to say that. But unfortunately, my subordinate here has had to come in at the last minute during both of the recent attacks here to save you." She left out the arrival of the Fiend, knowing that NERV would not have been expected to do anything about them. "Groups like yours and mine are not as rare as you may think. In fact, most would not believe any other than NERV exist at all, though there have been several more. In this instance, you are actually unique. Normally it's a bunch of high-school students, college at oldest, without any official sanction apart from a ruling to prevent them from being imprisoned. But you have a crack team of scientists and military specialists at hand, and yet you still require children to make the weapons you created work."

"Please don't refer to Karina as a weapon ma'am."

"Sorry Shinji. Anyway, I'm getting off topic here. The point is, groups like ours aren't really built in such a way as to interact with groups of a similar nature. It would be quite difficult for us to both take public credit for protecting these people when only one entity is seen effectively combating them. Therefore, it will be necessary for us to reach some form of compromise as to who will take credit. We cannot do this through some search for an asinine legal precedent, nor does anyone have jurisdiction here." She turned from Gendo to face Shinji again. "I believe you had a suggestion as to how we should resolve this?"

Shinji stepped forward from his position blocking the hole in the wall. "The only way that we can settle this that will be respected by all parties is through the most ancient and hallowed methods of conflict resolution." Gendo's guards fled the room as they figured out what that meant, Naoto's jaw dropped, and even Gendo's eyes widened slightly.

NERV's commander was the first to speak. "Of course, you don't expect me to agree to this. I can't possibly resolve something like this with combat to the death against someone who shrugs off bullets to his head."

Shinji stared incredulously at the two of them before dignifying the sitting man with a response. "You actually think I would suggest we settle this with something so ridiculously one sided as death combat between me and one of the hairless apes that work for you?" _'Actually, I would if I thought I could make the result stick.'_ "I was talking about a drinking contest."

Naoto was much appeased at this, knowing that Shinji could fix any damage the alcohol would cause to his liver. Ikari, however, almost protested before remembering the reports that led him to recruit Katsuragi. "NERV accepts this method. What are the rules for your 'contest'?"

"I was thinking three people for each team, one at a time replacing the previous when they can't keep going, last team with a man standing wins. Sound fair?" asked the room's youngest occupant.

"Speaking for NERV, I agree to your terms." _'According to the Scrolls, the scenario can still be salvaged. I simply need to accommodate it for the one I assumed to be the Third Child actually being the Seventeenth Angel. This is likely part of a plan on his part for independence from the Old Men. By accommodating to it, I run the risk of precluding my endgame, balanced by the benefit of having the same effect on their plans. Still, the Dead Sea Scrolls were accurate to a fault. I need to establish myself as an authority here before it's too late, and I can do so by making a demand that it has already been prophesized that he will meet, because the Scrolls will require it to be in order for inevitable events to occur.' _He got up and began to walk toward the Third Child. "There is one matter we still haven't discussed." Upon reaching the boy, he reached into his jacket and placed another gun against Shinji's temple. "What have you done with the First Child?"

Without bothering to make a verbal response, Shinji moved his head just an inch away from the barrel before a bullet was fired. It never connected, and by the time the bullet hit the wall, Shinji had performed two Air Tricks and had a gun pointed at the back of Rokubungi's head. "Don't assume I need my swords to kill you. If I know where a weapon is, I can have it ready to kill you from behind before you could blink." Unseen by Gendo, he made a gesture to Naoto and she stepped forward to take the smoking gun. "As for where Rei is… I don't think it matters to you, since she works for us now." Seeing that the bastard was about to protest this, he said, "You'll see her soon enough. Until then, she's in better hands than she ever was here."

Naoto cleared her throat as she said, "Moving on to more pressing concerns, get whoever you want as your other two for the 'contest', and also get someone to bring some alcohol. I assume you have a location setup for this?" she asked Shinji.

"Of course I do." Shinji dropped his gun, walked to and placed his hand on the Summoner's shoulder, and looked back at the spectacled man. "You know where to find me, that's where we'll do this." He closed his eyes as he and Naoto blurred out of the room.

* * *

They blurred into a fairly bare room, which wouldn't have been a problem if Shinji hadn't placed them a meter off the floor. As the mostly immutable laws of physics took hold and dragged them to the floor, Naoto landed on her feet and stepped away from Shinji, who fell flat on his ass and seemed unsure of exactly where he was.

"You alright Shinji?" Naoto saw that there was a steady flow of blood coming from his right ear. "Shinji! What happened? Are you alright?"

Lacking the balancing ability necessary to perform the complex task of standing up, he said, "Desk… second drawer on the left."

Naoto hurried to the desk and dug through the correct drawer. _'A vital star.'_ She vaulted over the desk back to Shinji and placed the crystallized demonic blood in his hand.

He lifted it up to his ear and crushed it against his skull, giving a sigh of relief as his damaged inner ear began to heal. "I hate when that happens," he grumbled.

"When what happens?" the woman kneeling beside him asked. It was clear from the tone of her voice that she would get an explanation.

"Used up the last bit of Green Blood in my system healing a bullet hole in my skull, then overloaded my body with two Air Tricks in about a second followed by another at long distance that I had to go through multiple solid objects while carrying a passenger to manage. It took too much power and damaged my body, which wouldn't have been a problem if I could heal it. Instead, it ruptured my inner ear, and that wrecked my balance." The still sitting boy chuckled. "Hell, we were lucky to end up on the right street. Even luckier that we were only a meter off the ground."

Wanting to be sure of his condition before she reacted to the fact that Shinji might have landed her in another country, Naoto asked, "But you're okay now, right? Regeneration working again?" As he nodded, she pulled out her gun as Shinji stood. "That's good."

The still blood covered teen grabbed his head and shouted, "Damnit Shirogane! Why do you always aim for the head! Why does everyone _always_ aim for my head!"

A young girl's voice answered, "Because there isn't anything important in there."

As Alice came down the stairs, Shinji ignored her comment and asked, "When did you get back here?" as he rubbed his head, having been knocked back down by the shock of an _unexpected_ bullet to his head.

"About two minutes ago. You actually think that he'll risk this on a drinking contest?" Knowing what they were about to ask, she said "Victor hacked into NERV's security cameras. More importantly, we all know that Rokubungi won't let this be decided by something as simple as a drinking contest. And since you're blocking me from reading your mind, I'm guessing you want to make the reveal for this yourself."

Shinji stood and proceeded towards one of the untouched rooms of his building. "As you both know, I do not use combat magic aside from my swords."

"More like he has no talent in it," muttered Alice.

Shinji went on as if he hadn't hard her. "In addition, I have very little knowledge of arcane rituals. However, I _do_ have access to one with a near encyclopedic knowledge of such rituals. Though most of the rituals he remembers are about enhancing himself, virgin sacrifices, town slaughtering, yada yada yada; there is a low cost bit of geomancy/blood magic that will hold him to the agreement."

Having some knowledge of killing magic, Alice asked "Is this that Gaea contract with the spikes?"

Shinji nodded. "Cruor Terra Pactum, or the Bloodied Earth Pact. It was actually created to ensure that humans would follow the result of the 'drinking contest' back when the demons first introduced it to them. Of course, it fell out of use a few cycles back, since random people would be executed for being near someone who broke the Pact and suffered the consequence."

Having a far more shallow pool of knowledge to draw from than the nonhumans she had followed into the room, Naoto asked, "I know I'm going to regret this, but what does this entail?"

* * *

"I like it. As long as NERV is the victim." After Naoto had said this, they heard knocking at the door.

Seeing that neither of the people in the room with him were going to offer, the only male in the building said, "I'll get it." Once he'd reached the door of the room he looked over his shoulder. "Please hurry up and get the floor out of the way." Alice looked at the capped woman she'd been left with, and then followed Shinji out the door.

"Hey Shinji, there's something you might want to know."

"What's that?" he asked as he reached the door.

"Rei's upstairs." Alice smirked as she felt Shinji's control slip. "Victor said he didn't want to be in the same dimension as her when she regained consciousness."

"I can't imagine why. More importantly, how many did he bring?"

Alice closed her eyes. "Three simple minds, one of them somewhat more nervous than the other two, and two that are too compartmentalized for me to properly read. One of them is Rokubungi, the other is the captain we met at the station. Actually, her mind isn't so much compartmentalized as it is… I don't really know how to describe this; the best word I can think of is… 'bubbly'."

"Are any of them waiting to shoot me in the head?"

"You know it doesn't work like that." Shinji lifted her by the collar of her dress, cracked the door, and positioned her to look out for him as he repeated the question. "No Shinji, no one is getting ready to shoot you, but if you don't put me down I will take one of their guns and do it myself."

He dropped her as he opened the door. "Hello bastard, people pissing themselves at the sight of me, Captain." He nodded to each of them in turn. "If you'll follow Alice, I'm waiting for a delivery." As he watched Alice begin to lead them to the room, then wait for Katsuragi to step forward so the rest could follow her, he thought to himself, _'What's taking me so long? Come on, I know it shouldn't take me this long to get the necessary materials for this ritual.'_ His thoughts were interrupted by a single knock on the door. _'That must be me.'_

* * *

Shinji pushed a black cauldron through the door of the room the others were waiting in. "Good, you got the floor out of my way. Now get out." He pushed the gathered people out of the room and slammed the door.

"Could've at least thanked me," grumbled the diminutive summoner as she left the room.

The door opened again as Shinji came out with five needles, labeled RK19, Alice, Goat fucker, Katsuragi, and Mook that will doubtless die too early to deserve a name. "Need your blood for this to work." He took the necessary amount of blood from each and returned to the room, then deposited the blood into the cauldron. After it had been dispersed and began glowing red, he took a giant brush and began to paint runes into the dirt with it.

Once they were complete, he pulled a silver-hilted dagger from his damaged coat and pressed the blade against the palm of his other hand. "We, who have identified ourselves to you by the life that flows through our veins, agree to abide by this most ancient of rites, upon penalty of death by your hand." He slashed his hand open, preventing the wound from healing long enough for his blood to drip to the floor and complete the prerequisite ritual.

On the other side of the door, the five others who would be taking part felt a brief surge of something they couldn't quite describe, and then one of the two who couldn't see her already stepped back as Alice became visible to them. Gendo removed his glasses, wiped them with a cloth from his pocket, and blinked twice before returning the orange tinted spectacles to their proper place.

Alice looked at the two and figured out what happened. "Yes, I've been here the whole time, and the fact that you can see me without any tricks means that Shinji's finished with the ritual." She opened the door and entered followed by Naoto, and then the NERV staff. But when the two extra guards the commander had brought tried to walk to the center of the room with the others, they ran into a wall that had not impeded the others.

Seeing that his guards were apparently unable to follow him, Gendo looked at Naoto and demanded, "What is the meaning of this Captain Kuzunoha?"

Instead of directly answering him, she turned to Shinji and said, "You got the good stuff, didn't you?"

The physically youngest of the room's occupants answered from his seat that had risen out of the earth with the ritual, "I wouldn't dare half-ass this with bad material. I did this one right, silver dagger and all. The barrier will make sure nothing can interrupt by keeping all nonparticipants out of the circle. Huh," he said to himself. "We should probably wrap this up quick; cuz I'm not sure how far up the barrier goes."

_

* * *

_

Two hours later

"The _tiiiiiiiiiiime_ has come and _soooooooo _have _Iiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"_

"I'll laugh last cuz you came to die."

"I'm not sure which I should be more concerned about," Alice muttered to Naoto from their positions after being thrown out of the circle. "That they both know that song, or the fact that they're using Jamaican accents."

After the eighteenth mug each, they'd wrapped one of their arms around each other and begun singing The Time has Come.

And yes, the two Japanese were singing a song in English with Jamaican accents.

In better sync than should be expected of the inebriated.

Without either having given the other any clue as to which song they were going to sing.

"**Should I keep giving them more, or should we just call it a tie?"** No one questioned why the cauldron had started talking; they just waited for one of the two remaining participants to answer.

Misato simply raised the clay mug she'd been drinking from.

Shinji's response was somewhat more vocal. "Yeah! Put more of da stuff in the thingy the stuff goes in." More vocal, but not much easier to understand.

The talking cauldron seemed to sigh as they dipped their mugs in for more of the liquid tearing apart their livers. They left each other's semi-embrace, looked their opponent in the eye, drained their mugs…

And passed out.

Naoto stared at the two, waiting for one or both to be thrown out of the glowy circle as the rest of them had, saw that it wasn't going to happen, and asked Alice "Now what?"

The smaller girl blinked, drew upon her considerable knowledge, and gave the most accurate answer she could. "I have no bloody idea."

"**This… has never happened before. I'm… not sure how to call this, give me minute."** Alice and Naoto looked at each other, dumbfounded, as the cauldron worked out the semantics of the pact in an effort to decide the winner, going as far as searching the participants' minds to check for the reason for the contest in the first place.

"**I have made my decision. Credit for all instances is to be given to all who take part. Contracted demons, regardless of origin, are to be considered a part of the action of their master or mistress. As NERV did nothing productive, they have no claim to any reward or any other result of the incident in question."**

With that result given, the circle receded, and the liquid in the cauldron vanished. NERV's first two awoke, the guard looking around in confusion, and the commander trying to regain the dignity he lost when he passed out and was thrown into the wall. "Kurosaki, what happened?"

"I'm not sure sir. While you were… incapacitated, Captain Katsuragi drank Kuzunoha and the ghost under the table, and then passed out at the same time as your son."

"So it's a tie?"

"I believe so sir."

He turned to the woman he believed was the leader of the other group. "So what does that mean?"

"As I understand it," began Naoto, "since we were the only ones to do anything today, we deserve any and all reward for resolving the incident, and if either of us tries to take credit for what the other group does, one of the members of the offending group will die."

"That's a load of nonsense. Kurosaki, retrieve Captain Katsuragi; we're leaving." With his grunts at attention, one with Misato slung over his shoulder, he said, "I'm willing to admit that the Third seems to have a unique connection to his Eva. But there is nothing in this world that cannot be explained by science, and this is no exception. Unit-01 has always been different than the others, but it is still just a tool, as he is. I expect that the First will be returned to us before another attack."

With that heartwarming sentiment, the commander of NERV left the building that cost Shinji much less than it should have. "Arrogant son of a bitch."

"Is that any way to talk with a little girl in the room?"

"Alice, you are hundreds of years older than me; you just don't physically age." Naoto then looked at the still unconscious teen lying in the middle of the room. "What should we do with him?" Rei came through the open door wearing Shinji's robe, grabbed his leg, and began to drag him to his room. "Should I get him-"

"No."

"But-"

"Trust me; you don't want to get in her way right now."

Alice's statement was enforced by the sound of bone breaking from the second floor. "I'm going… somewhere away from here."

"I'll join you."


	7. The Man Who Destroyed the World

Up until this chapter, everything could still fall into place with Gendo's predictions based on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Now, everything's going to go to hell.

Or Hell will come to Tokyo-3.

Warning: This chapter contains Shinji recounting to the best of his knowledge of the events leading to the First Slaying of God. All I know of SMT2 is that Aleph, a test-tube messiah, killed God while other less important things happened (Like the game's plot). Any variation from the actual events in game comes from the story being older than the universe these characters are in.

* * *

Having remembered how long the two of them had taken last time, Alice waited until morning to return. Upon opening the door, she blinked twice at the sight of the lobby/living room. _'Why is there a torn up old car from the '20s in here?'_ A moan coming from the kitchen prevented her from the kitchen prevented her from further pursuing this train of thought.

Seeing red at the thought of what untold acts of debauchery the naturally born demi-fiend and the half-succubus were engaging in in the room where her food was prepared, she broke the door down with a Megido and shouted, "How in the name of the Savior Sparda can you do this in here!"

Rei stared at her, unable to speak due to her mouthful of sausage.

Shinji stared at the broken door from his position at the stove. "What, cook? Or maybe you just don't want us eating in here?"

Alice took the image in; Shinji, wearing black slacks and a white shirt, standing in front of a stove with three pans running, Rei sitting at the table with two empty plates dressed the same, and a Pixie flying around transforming what appeared to be bottles of vodka. She asked her questions in the order of what disturbed her the most. "Why are you dressed like that? Why is _she_ dressed like _you_? And _Why_ is that Pixie transforming the _Vodka_?"

He replied, "Because this is the school uniform for the school I attend; Rei attends the same school and we don't have time to pick up one of her uniforms, which are required; and because Pixies can use transform to turn that vodka into actual food to be consumed by the guy who hasn't eaten since he enrolled in the previously mentioned school."

"Now Shinji, I think you're exaggerating how long it's been since-"

"Let's take a look, shall we? The only thing I consumed yesterday was approximately five gallons of what may or may not have been Irish Lava, my entire day before that was spent being molested by her," gesturing to Rei, who was still eating, "for almost eighteen hours in a contracting ritual that I am fairly sure was designed to kill any potential contractors, three days before that unconscious in a cell with no food, and the day before that, I skipped breakfast, and then left school campus before I could eat my lunch because I was doing the morally correct thing by preparing fight the minion of Hell that may or may not have been visible to humans (I didn't see a Trigger used, so I'm beginning to doubt it's anywhere near the power of the superangels that are being sent by God, or that it was even strong enough to warrant a concern the people would panic at the sight of it, seeing as they might not have been able to.). I think I'm perfectly justified in using this cheap Russian shit to make food, and besides; it's not like I'm using _good_ Russian shit."

Alice's immediate response was to blink. "That… made far more sense than it should have… Wait. Why is there a car in the living room? And where did you find that Pixie?"

Shinji occupied by the food in his mouth, Rei was the one to answer. "Miss Shirogane dropped a pair of demon containing tubes while she was here; they had this Pixie and what Ikari-sama called an Oburogumo in them."

"Really? Huh," she muttered. "No wonder I didn't recognize it, I haven't seen one of them for nearly a century." She walked out to speak with the demon as Shinji continued eating.

"Ikari-sama?" Rei asked, "What did she mean, 'nearly a century'?"

The young man washed his food back with a glass of vodka before answering, "Alice is… _old_. Older than she'll admit. I think she was around before the first time God was killed."

"… God?"

"Yeah, you know, God; The Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and the End, Eternal Light, Creator of Man; that bastard."

Rei stared at him for about a minute before asking, "How can God be killed?"

"God is an entity of great power, true. However, demons draw power from belief, so God's power was directly affected by the number of followers he had. One thing you must remember is that the entity YHVH is a vain dictator, incapable of feeling any sympathy for any of its followers. The humans at the time were growing aware of this, and so the lack of faith people had in him was enough that humanity's champion, Aleph, was able to slay him. Unfortunately, this didn't last. Humanity is an inherently weak thing, despite the potential it has to grow heroes such as Aleph. Without God to lean on, they were unable to continue, and people began to plead for the return of their God." Shinji sighed. "As long as humanity needs to lean on him, the will of the universe will continue to recreate God again and again. It might be that the only way to truly be rid of him would be to find someone else for humanity to lean on instead. When God returned, he was much stronger than he had been before, and Aleph had grown too old to fight. For performing the ultimate sin, killing his creator, Aleph was supposedly cursed for eternity. Something about an eternal existence of being tortured, then killed, and then being reincarnated so the process can be repeated. Cheerful stuff." He had a slight grin at the thought.

"Any way, if all of this is to be believed, the Judeo-Christian God can only be killed by making all of humanity unbelieving of his existence at worst, and actively rebelling against the thought of being ruled by him at best." He sighed as he once again was forced to contemplate the difficulty of the path he had chosen. "I'm going to give you one chance to leave. I won't lie to you; if you side with me, then you will be an enemy of the United Nations, the Heavenly Host, and the Legions of Hell in the most ideal situation, the more negative outcomes also adding any groups opposing the U.N., the Greek, Norse, Hindu, and Japanese pantheons, and multiple Eldritch Abominations. I won't ask you to decide now, only that you make your decision before it's too late to change it." H stood up, deposited his plate in the sink, and said, "We'll be late for school if we don't leave soon."

Rei wordlessly followed suit, following him out as she thought to herself, _'I've seen proof of things that lead me with no choice but to assume the entities he suggests exist are real. If not the Angels, then merely what I have seen of both my own biology and his. Surely, he must realize that he cannot fight these things on his own, and yet he speaks of fighting almost everything anyone has ever believed in as well as the people who believe in them, then troubles himself with such menial concerns as being late for school. But why would he take the risk of losing a potential asset? And should I side with him? All my life, I've taken comfort in knowing what was planned for me, following the Commander's orders unquestioningly. But I feel like there's something I've been missing now, something I could find with him.'_ She either ignored or didn't notice the reactions people were having to the fact that she was wearing a boy's uniform and arrived with the boy the uniform was purchased for. _'He's offering me something the Commander never did; the freedom to decide what _I_ want.'_

Shinji sat down at his desk and turned on the twelve year old computer each student was given. Upon seeing most of the messages he was now receiving, he sighed. _'I don't care if they're right, why do they keep _asking_ if we did it? Oh wait, this is Japan; they'd assume we'd had sex if we showed up within five minutes of each other from opposite directions.'_

Rei, heedless of the content of the other messages, typed her answer to Shinji into the open chat.

The rest of the people in the class shut up, speechless, and stared at the quiet blue-haired girl.

Shinji just sighed again. _'At least this day can't get worse… _**WHY THE HELL DID I JUST THINK THAT!**_'_

'_**Because you have a thing for tempting fate.'**_

'_Well, look who finally decided to speak up. You've been awfully quiet since our little trip to hell. You miss your old cage, Nelo Angelo?'_

Shinji grabbed his head in pain as the demon replied, _**'DON'T CALL ME BY THAT NAME. I will not become HIS slave again.'**_

'_And what would you prefer to be called; Dark Slayer, Vergil, Eldest Son of Sparda?' _Sensing his shock at Shinji's knowledge, he went on, _'Oh yes, I know your name. I felt it right to do a bit of research on Nelo Angelo. You first showed up back when I was a kid, a little after my third birthday. No one knew where you'd come from, and you weren't mentioned in any old myths. That meant you were someone new. However, you disappeared six years later, after your apparent destruction at the hands of Dante on Mallet Island. Coincidently, on the very same day that you showed up and nearly took over my body. According to the reports on you, you were just the type who would do whatever you could to stay alive, even after death. So you used an unhappy woman to father a child that would serve no other purpose than to be an emergency body for you if you died while seeking Sparda's power. But someone screwed it up for you, when they put this Seal on my body. Even though it weakens me, it also keeps me in control instead of you. The only real way out for you is for me to die or let you take control of my body.' _Vergil would be shaking with rage if he had an actual body. _'All you accomplished was trading one form of slavery for another. Instead of serving Lucifer, you're a source of power and information for me. And the real kicker? If you hadn't gone through with your attempt at immortality, you probably would have been reincarnated by now. Karma at work?'_ Shinji chuckled to himself aloud. _'I really do have to thank you for this lovely conversation. Nothing could _possibly_ ruin the good mood it's put me in.'_

As the teacher entered, Horaki said, "Stand, bow, sit," ruining Touji's plans to confront Shinji for what happened to his sister, Kensuke trying to talk him out of it, and her own desire to throttle him for information.

"Ah, Mister Ikari, Miss Ayanami; I see you have deigned to grace us with your presence."

'_I feel so welcome in this class.'_

"Now class, we have a new student today," began the boring old man.

'_Good, maybe this will take these idiots' minds off of me for awhile.'_

A guy with spiked black hair, a face covered in thick black tattoos with a green tint, and yellow eyes came through the door. "My name is Naoki Kashima; it's a pleasure to meet you all." Shinji looked ready to start crying.

'_**And that's why you never say that nothing can ruin your good mood.'**_

* * *

"Crap. Crap. Korean Crap." Alice turned to the sentient car by her couch. "Why isn't there ever anything good on in the mornings?" The Oburogumo raised its wipers slightly, as if it were trying to shrug.

"_We now go live to a press conference on the incident in question with NERV's Chief of Public Relations."_

* * *

"Thank you, Chigusa. As you can see the people are eager to meet the pilot of the Evangelion that fought off the Angel, though I personally doubt that the pilot will be making an appearance." As the crowd behind the reporter began to cheer, he continued, "As you can see, we have a surprise appearance by Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki." The man stopped speaking as he listened to his earpiece, then told the camera. "I'm sorry for any confusion, it appears Fuyutsuki _is_ the new chief of public relations, effective since the previous chief retired the day of the first Angel attack."

The camera focused on the elderly man, surrounded on both sides by security guards.

* * *

Alice looked carefully at the screen before exclaiming, "That's that grunt from yesterday!" She laughed before calling the Pixie out of the kitchen, saying "You'll want to see this!"

* * *

"People, I assure you; while some may question the damage the city has incurred during the battle, there was virtually no damage to any civilian owned structures, nor to any public property aside from a single hill and inevitable damage to the roads. We have protected this city twice, and we Will continue to do so!"

The majority of the crowd began cheering, ignoring the fact that they hadn't really been told anything other than, 'We didn't get completely annihilated, so please keep giving us funding without being told how the money will be spent.' As Fuyutsuki began taking questions, answering most with "That's classified' or "No comment", there was a noticeable rumble in the ground. Some of the more ignorant people began shouting cries of 'Earthquake', despite Tokyo-3 having been designed in such a way as for such events to be undetectable unless on the ground inside the Geo-Front.

The Section-2 grunts began to rearrange themselves around the old man, ready to protect him from any unseen threat…

As three spikes of granite rose out of the ground, impaling one of their numbers' skull, heart, and liver.

* * *

Watching this occur on TV, the Pixie asked Alice, "Is that it?"

"I'm… not really sure. I haven't ever actually seen this one happen before," was the reply she received before each spike grew a dozen more along their shafts, destroying most of the man's body. "I am _so_ glad they didn't decide to censor that." _'Even if the main reason for it was that they hadn't expected to _need_ to censor anything, so they weren't ready to.'_

* * *

"GOD, ZEUS, ODIN, IZANAGI, INDRA, BEL, LUCIFER," Shinji began as he stood from his desk, "I Blame You ALL for this!" Everyone except Kashima looked at his sudden outburst, most believing he had gone insane, and Hikari remembering what her grandfather had told her about higher ranking demons.

'_Spiked black hair, yellow eyes, body covered in shamanistic tattoos…'_ The sound of their teacher's neck breaking sent her to the logical conclusion, further reinforcing it upon seeing what he was doing to the still-warm corpse.

The Hito-Shura was tearing the eyeballs out of the deceased instructor. "You just can't get these things fresh back home." His prize free, he popped them into his mouth like candy. "Delicious." He gave a content sigh as he surveyed the room. As his eyes settled onto his target, he asked, "You're Shinji, right?"

He received his answer when the teen in question had black chains of ink spread across his body, ran up, and tried to kick him through the wall. He grabbed Shinji's leg out of the air and threw him out the window, following him out the hole in the broken glass.

By the time he landed, Shinji had a sword ready and was charging at him. When the Hito-Shura leaned to the right to avoid the first strike, Shinji used Air Trick to get behind him and slash at his legs. The yellow-eyed fiend jumped, then twisted in the air to avoid a third strike, grabbed Shinji's sword with his feet, and broke Shinji's jaw with a punch that knocked him into the gate. "You're violent for a kid, aren't you?"

Setting the pieces of his jaw back in place so he could mend it, Shinji answered, "You're one to talk. You destroyed the world before you finished highschool."

Kashima ducked under another strike and forced his fist into Shinji's gut as he answered, "What would you have done in my place? Restored this stagnant world? Or maybe you would have helped create a world where no one would interact, ever." He grabbed what he could and ripped it out as he knocked him away. "Maybe you would prefer to have been born in a world where those without power exist only as slaves to those who did have it." He looked at what was in his hand. "What the hell is this, your stomach?" He bit off a small piece. "Ugh, liver." He tossed aside the organ as he walked toward Shinji. "I did what I had to to keep myself alive." He lifted his foe up by his hair. "And you would have done exactly what I did."

"No… I wouldn't… Kashima." He forced out. "I would have… restored… the world and… fixed it. You… You took the… easy way out. I'm… nothing like you." Shinji aimed the sword floating behind the Hito-Shura's back as best he could, hoping that he wouldn't turn and see it.

As the untouched combatant pulled his right hand back to deliver a killing blow, the floating sword flew forward, crashing into his left shoulder and forcing him to loosen his grip as Shinji jumped to his right. "Not bad. Keeping me distracted by pretending to be worse off than you were while you set up a strike from behind. No wonder the man downstairs wanted me to check you out; you've got some real potential. Ever consider working for us?"

Panting, Shinji replied "No. I wouldn't work for someone as heartless as Lucifer any sooner than I'd work for YHWH, and sure as _Hell_ wouldn't work with someone who betrayed the entire human race!" _'I'm putting up a good act here… but I'm in no condition to back up my claims.'_

'_**Then let me out.'**_

'_You'd just end up making things worse.'_

'_**Can things get any worse for you?'**_

…

'_**That's what I thought.'**_

"Y'know, I thought I'd finally get a good fight out of you, but you're no better than any of the others. But you do seem pretty sure that you're right about what should be done, so I'll give you a chance to survive." He leaned forward and drove his fist into the ground, glowing red cracks spreading from the point of impact. "I'm going to release seven thousand demons into this city. If you can find and destroy every last one of them by sundown, I'll leave quietly. Otherwise… Well, I'll leave that to your strategist's imagination."

"S… seven thousand… throughout the city?" Shinji collapsed to his knees. _'Damn it! Even with the three of us, that's too damn many!'_ He reached in his pocket to get pull out his cell phone. "Of course the damn thing's broken." He tossed the useless hunk of plastic aside as the demons Naoki had mentioned began to rise out of the cracks.

A green liquid, visually similar to stomach acid, began to seep out of the cracks as staff-wielding humanoid figures formed above them. "Guess I'd better get started." Heedless of the green liquid, he charged the Gluttonies that had arisen as he summoned a dozen swords around himself.

* * *

Until this point, some of the dumber students had believed this to be some kind of elaborate performance. The _really_ stupid ones were rushing downstairs to get a better view.

Hikari, Rei, Kensuke, and Touji were among the second group.

"This," Rei began in her monotone, "is not good."

"You've got quite the grasp of the obvious there, Ayanami," Touji commented with a snort.

"This is _not _the time, Suzuhara!" shouted the closest thing to an authority figure present. "And what are you even doing down here?"

"I could ask you the same thing!"

"Ah… er…" Hikari stumbled as she struggled to find an explanation aside from 'I'm the youngest Devil Summoner of my clan for the past century'. "I'm the class representative; it's my duty to be here."

"Uh, class rep?" Kensuke began, "I'm pretty sure running downstairs to watch one of your classmates get slaughtered by a demon isn't part of… your…" He shut up under her glare.

Having been observing Shinji for the entire fight, Rei was able to say "Duck," before pushing them out of the way as a stream of fire melted down the doors they were looking through. As the boys shouted for her to get away from the flames, Hikari pulled her away, then grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher from the wall and covering her in chemical foam. Rei thanked the other girl as she examined the damage to Shinji's shirt, noting that her right shoulder was now completely bare before walking into the battlefield the schoolyard had become, staring at a line of Envies that were approaching Shinji from behind, and freezing their bodies with a blast of Mabufudyne.

Shinji turned away from the flame-spewing Gluttony he'd torn in half and said, "Thanks Rei," before turning to the new hole in the wall and as he sniffed the air, asking "That hit some of the students, didn't it?" already knowing the answer from the smell of burnt flesh. His voice colder than she'd ever heard the commander's, he asked, "How many?"

"At least a dozen."

He took a deep breath before instructing her, "Rei, get back inside, tell all the students too stupid to stay out of the way to Stay the Hell out of My **Way**." As Rei returned inside to relay his instructions, a blue nebula of demonic power began to manifest around him. He quickly suppressed it, taking Vergil's power that was being devoted to the possession attempt and using the Seal to convert it into additional swords, which began to appear in the sky by the dozens. The two hundred assorted Prides, Lusts, Gluttonies, and Greeds around him felt the power pouring out of him, and began to try to flee as they were skewered by a thousand blades from above.

With the demons collapsing into the sand that composed their physical bodies, Shinji turned to the slowly clapping apparent teen leaning against the railing of the roof. "Bravo!" he shouted, "Bravo Ragazzo! I'm starting to see why he took an interest in you!" The yellow-eyed monster wearing a human body turned and began to walk away. "You'd better hurry. You haven't even taken out three hundred yet."

As the Hito-Shura began to walk out of his sight, Shinji Air Tricked onto the roof. "Damn; he got away." He turned as the door to the roof was kicked open and found Hikari with the point of a knife pricking his skin just a centimeter below his Adam's apple. "What do you think you're doing, Horaki?"

"Taking you in for questioning. There's just been a fight that utilized demonic power in my jurisdiction, and in plain eye of normal civilians. Since you're the only one left, I'm taking you in for questioning."

As Rei, Kensuke, and Touji followed her onto the roof, Shinji asked, "And how long do you think it'll take, including processing and convincing them I'm telling the truth?" Before she could reply, he continued, "I don't have time to deal with you and your fucking inferiority complex. Rei, come here." The quiet girl walked to him and he placed his hand on her bare shoulder. "There's about to be thousands of soldiers of the Seven Hells Demon Army running through this city. If you want to keep hunting down and trying to kill the people working to stop it, feel free. If you want to do something useful, call Raidou and ask her what you should do."

Realizing what he was about to do, Hikari tried to slit his throat as he Air Tricked away, taking Rei with him. _'I need to stop leaving equipment at home.'_ She pulled out the one tube she'd brought with her to school, summoned her Tlaloc, and used its Phantasma ability to rush home to get the rest of her demons.

"Ken?"

"Yeah Touji?"

"What the hell is going on?"

"I'm guessing that the end of the world is upon us, and I recommend that we proceed to make piece with our gods and go hide under our beds as we wait to die."

* * *

Naoto had been enjoying her morning. She'd had breakfast at a nice Chinese Buffet, Hikari hadn't done anything mind numbingly stupid, and there hadn't been any demon attacks yet.

Then she saw the glowing red cracks spreading down the street. "I knew this day was going too well." She pulled out her phone and called her speed dial one. "Hey. I'm not quite sure how to say this, but you should tell everyone to get to Tokyo-3, Right Now."

"_You sure the whole group should get over there?"_

Seeing a Wrath leading a group of Lusts down the street, she answered, "I'm staring at a team of demons with a bomb walking down the street, and I just saw a thousand blades appear and fall out of the sky above the local school," before pocketing the phone, pulling out her gun, and firing three rounds into the bomb the Wrath was carrying on its back, detonating it and most of the demons with it. "And this started out as such a nice day." She looked down the street to see a red crack moving further down the road and sighed. "No idea how many enemies there are, no reason to believe I'll get any backup from the U.N., I don't know my way around the area; it's just like the good old days, only with even less help on hand and more people's lives risk. Lovely."

* * *

Kensuke was sitting in his darkened room, the only light coming from the screens of his computer and the COMP he'd… acquired. The only sound comes from his fingers running across the keyboard. "If I'm gonna die today, I'm gonna die knowing what makes you tic."

As the COMP began to emit black lightning, he smiled and read the words running across the screen.

_Decryption Confirmed_

_Booting Program_

…_Condition Green_

DEMON SUMMONING PROGRAM _ready to boot._

_Booting _DEMON SUMMONING PROGRAM

God's Righteousness Upheld

3:1 Then what advantage has the Jew?

Or what is the value of circumcision?

2 Much in every way.

To begin with,

the Jews were entrusted with the Oracles of God

3 What if some were unfaithful?

Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?

4 By no means! Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written.

"That you may be justified in your words,

And prevail when you are judged."

5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God,

What shall we say?

That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us?

(I speak in a human way.)

6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world?

7 But if in my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner?

8 And why not do evil that good may come?-as some people slanderously charge us with saying.

Their condemnation is just.

No One is Righteous

9 What then?

Are we Jews [1] any better off? [2]

No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.

10 As it is written

"_None is righteous, no, not one;_

* * *

Yeah, the protagonist of Nocturne is here, he joined Lucifer, and he can kick Shinji's ass with both arms tied behind his back.

I really want to hear how badly you think this will go.

Ps: if you want a better idea of what the Seven Hells Demon Army looks like, look them up at the devil may cry wiki. Then picture seven thousand of them roaming around in the city. And don't forget what Greeds can do. And also, that is the text that runs across the screen for about a quarter of a second in Devil Survivor on the Day Before.


	8. Fall, Third

WiredJunkiee1100: I cannot express with words how much reviews like yours mean to me. Now, in order; a pairing necessitates that both characters stay alive for most of the story, I have never played either of the games you mentioned, all I'll say about Asuka is that she takes after the contributor of the 'super sperm' her mother used according to the manga, and Shinji hates Vergil almost as much as he does Gendo and would make sure he dies with him out of spite. He's actually fairly determined to make sure Vergil _never_ gets his own body, especially since the only ways _either_ of them are aware of would involve Shinji effectively killing himself or actually dying. Lucifer didn't take over after Mundus was destroyed, Mundus was one of his Generals, and the Hito-Shura knew Vergil during his time as Nelo-Angelo and Sparda during his rebellion. He's never met Dante personally, and he doesn't use Devil Arms. He prefers Magatama. Shinji however, already has the Devil Arm he got from Shamshel, and he will get more. As for Rei, she is a creature of lust that's been forced to ignore anything that could qualify her as even having a _soul_. She's embracing her nature. And about Naoto, she wasn't being raised to be a detective like canon, she was being raised to eventually replace her grandfather as a demon-wielding soldier. Not much of a better childhood than what Rei had.

Zap Rowsdower: Remember, the entire Persona series except Innocent Sin has happened in the current world, and every one of them is at end-game level. And remember, there are three worlds here, not just the human one. Hell, I'm actually tempted to get the human world destroyed now so I have justification for focusing on the Dark Realm and Makai…

Deep Space Cowgirl: Shinji is about as powerful as any member of the Persona 4 cast when they aren't genuinely channeling the actual demon instead of just using their Personas. Unfortunately, Hito-Shura used Action Replay.

AthanMortis: Oh yes you will. And that is one of the best stories I've read on this site.

* * *

As Shinji ran down the street with Rei by his side, she asked, "Where are we going?"

"The Seven Hells can cause a lot of damage, but they can be killed with conventional human weaponry. But there's no way the army, or even an elite team of summoners, could take on the Hito-Shura. We need to link up with Alice and Naoto, it's the only way we'll be able to take him down. He's about as strong as the Evas while they're still restrained and unable to access their true potential. But Karina's just too damn huge to be able to fight him, same problem with EVA-00."

"So we have to fight him on foot?" asked Rei.

He answered, "Yeah. Which reminds me, do you know how you used Mabufudyne earlier?"

"I'm not sure; I saw a threat to you and just acted on instinct."

Seeing a group of Prides moving down the street, Shinji said "Well, here's an opportunity to see if you can do it again." As Rei tried to perform another Mabufudyne, Shinji gave her what advice he could. "Remember how you felt when you did it before. Remember what will happen if they are allowed to live. Focus all of the things you're feeling… and release it."

Shinji stepped back, expecting a blizzard to run down the street at the approaching Prides. Instead, a stream of lightning came down from the sky, vaporizing the enemies.

The two teens starred at the glass sitting on the road where the Prides were. "Alice," Shinji began, "is going to love you."

* * *

She stumbled through the apartment, her white shirt stained by the green liquid the Envy had collapsed into. She dragged her hand across the table, looking for the phone.

She knew what she had to do.

"By the name of Geirin Kuzunoha, I declare hypothetical scenario Alpha Hotel to be in effect. Quarantine is to be established over the city for the next seventy-two hours, pending the decision of the Counsel."

She took the five tubes she had earned, and the eight remaining tubes her… predecessor had left.

She needed to prevent any panic from spreading further from the city.

* * *

"_We regret to inform you that, due to technical difficulties, phone services are currently unav-"_ Naoto cut off the recorded message by slamming the receiver through the payphone as she took potshots at the approaching demons.

"Of course it is," she growled as she summoned Yoshitsune to give her a line of defense. "If it didn't have such a high risk of exposing him early, I'd suspect Shinji to have staged this to get the public on his side." As the Demon bisected the Gluttony's coffin, she couldn't help but miss Rise's support. _'What I wouldn't give to have someone here to tell me if something was around the corner.'_

Her desire was warranted as a pair of Lusts shot out of an alley, scythes raised, only for one to lose the arms holding the scythe as the other's head was blown off.

She sighed to herself before taking off in a run. _'Much as I'd like to set up a fortified location, I need to get a better idea of the situation. And since the phones stopped working,'_ she riddled a lone Pride with bulletholes as she passed, _'I need to move on foot until I find someone who knows what happened. And judging by the scene above the school, Shinji is already at least aware of the situation, if not the cause of it. Still, if he knows who's responsible, he'd be looking for him. The best course of action is to get to the Blue Rose.'_ She grimaced as she once again felt that two of the tiny pockets on her belt were empty. _'I need to get my Pixie and Oboroguruma back anyway.'_

* * *

Seeing people wandering the streets, Shinji was confused as to why no one was fleeing in panic. "None of these people seem very concerned. But why? Even if there aren't any demons running around here yet, they still should have…" He trailed off, leaving Rei wondering what he was thinking, as he walked toward a payphone.

"_We regret to inform you that-"_ He hung up the phone and grabbed a passerby's shoulder.

"Hey, I need some help. Can borrow your phone for a minute?" Having had most of his shirt torn apart, and most of what was left being covered in blood, he was rather convincing. Hearing the same message again when he tried to call home, he ran further down the street to an electronics store, Rei following. Seeing nothing but white noise on the display TVs, he muttered, "Figures," just loud enough for Rei to hear. "Someone set up an information blackout. They're probably setting up a quarantine line just too far away for us to see, flights are going to be diverted, and any that try to leave will be shot down."

"Why would they shoot down an outgoing plane?" Rei asked.

"Naoto mentioned something about this once. A hypothetical situation named Alpha Hotel, A-H in the phonetic alphabet the UN adopted from NATO, as a cover for the name Apocalypse: Hell."

Rei asked, "What happens in this scenario?"

"The basic situation for it is for a powerful demon to show up in a populated city and summon a massive number of other, weaker, demons. That's the basic Apocalypse situation. In the Hell variant, the SSDF will run quarantine around the city under the assumption that all the demons summoned are incapable of travelling by air or water. But if just a couple were able to sneak onto a plane and escape…"

"Then they could cause an international panic when the plane landed," Rei concluded. "A national one at least."

"Exactly. In order to prevent that, the SSDF will take whatever means are necessary to prevent any demons from escaping, including shooting down a plane of civilians that _might_ have a demon or two hiding on it, despite the fact that there's usually about a hundred in any major city that aren't under anyone's control. Finally, failing to resolve the issue within seventy-two hours will result in an immediate retreat of the SSDF, and the city will be nuked. Sure, they might use an N2 these days, but we won't be able to tell the difference."

"So we need to clear out the city within three days." Rei stated with surety.

"Actually, we have until sunset. Kashima all but said that he'd start wrecking havoc then if the city wasn't cleared of all the minions he summoned by then. And like I said before; He's stronger than me, and too small for Karina to fight. We need to link up with Alice and Naoto, or we're fucked." Looking back at Rei before going through the entrance of the clothing shop, he added, "And not in the good way."

Rei followed him inside, asking the rather sensible question, "Why are we in a clothing store if it is so important that we rendezvous with them?"

Grabbing a couple of hooded shirts off a rack, he answered as he proceeded to the checkout counter. "We've already been by the Blue Rose and Naoto's hotel, and neither of them was in either location. Which means we'll have to run around the city hoping to run into them, and that would be kind of hard to do while keeping any degree of anonymity while wearing damaged school uniforms in the morning." He tossed Rei the red jacket as he prepared to put on his new blue sweatshirt. "What is it?"

"I," she paused for a moment, unsure of how to inform him of her hatred of the bloody color of her eyes, "dislike the color red."

Shinji blinked once, then switched the sweatshirt for the jacket and pulled it on, zipping it far enough to cover his ruined shirt. "There." He pulled his bangs down to cover his face and raised the hood. "And make sure you keep your hood up; I want to try and avoid anyone recognizing our faces. Yours is baggy enough to cover the more noticeable details like your hair and eyes, and I don't think people will remember much more about me than a red jacket and white hair." Hearing a woman scream, he made a 'Come On' gesture to Rei as he ran towards the noise. _'If Naoto knows about these demons, then she's probably running around, same as us. Alice is probably enjoying herself with all the targets. Our best bet is to keep running around until we run into them.'_

* * *

A little blonde girl floated down the street, blasting Megidos and Mamudoons at whatever demons she saw, cackling all the way. _"I LOVE this city!"_ Not bothering to look where she was going, she slammed headfirst into a Greed's coffin. Adopting her best 'I'm an innocent little girl face', she asked, "Could you please **Die for Me**?"

The demon looked at her for a moment before collapsing into a pile of sand.

Alice sighed to herself as she continued on. "Why is that the only thing I can ever convince anyone to do?" she asked, knowing that there wasn't anyone around to answer.

* * *

As he saw struck by a Greed's coffin, Kensuke Aida couldn't help but exclaim, "This thing is amazing!"

He was right. After all, a normal human wouldn't have been able to stand after being hit by a steel coffin twice their size. Thanks to the Harmonizer in his COMP, he could.

He pushed a couple of buttons on the handheld device to summon his Ogre in retaliation. "Well that was easy."

Still being inexperienced with how the universe treated people who uttered such statements, he was surprised by the moaning coming from the three scythe-wielding figures that had appeared in the street. He looked away from them for a moment to input a command for a Zio, and when he looked back up to aim, one of them was _right in front of him_.

He fell back in fear, his Zio firing off to the side, as the Sloth prepared to swing its scythe. As an increasingly loud hum drew closer, the blindfolded demon 'looked' away from its target as the motorcycle neared.

And then died as the green-helmeted passenger of the bike jumped off and kicked it, tearing off the top three feet of its body before it collapsed into sand.

The first rider continued to the other two Sloths, using the first as a ramp to get airborne. He looked back at the last demon, which was preparing to move to avenge its fallen comrade, just before the sound of glass breaking was heard with a muffled cry of "_Susano-O!"_ The God of Storms briefly appeared in the sky, raising a wind that scattered every grain of sand that made up the Sloth's body before disappearing. _'That should do it.'_

The rider landed smoothly, turning around and returning to the other two. The first looked down at the kid sitting in the road, then looking at the Ogre, and she asked, "Is that guy with you?" The kid nodded. "Are you with the UN?" A shake of the head this time.

The white jacketed rider removed his helmet, revealing a brunette man in his early twenties wearing glasses. "Kid, I think I know a guy who'll want to meet you."

* * *

Shinji grabbed Rei before she turned the corner and pulled her with him against the wall of the building. "What is it?"

Looking at the reflection in the window of the building across the street, he saw white bodied creatures covered with red lines, their tails and the spikes along the heads and spines looking as if they were crystallized blood, each of them carrying a claw-headed staff that held a ball of fire.

There were at least thirty of them flanking a shirtless teenager whose body was covered in black lines, and had a small spike protruding from the base of his neck.

"Kashima. And a couple of dozen Abysses."

"Abyyses?" Rei asked. "That doesn't seem to match up with any of the seven deadly sins."

"It doesn't," he answered. "An Abyss is a creature that normally lives in the very depths of Hell. And there's only one way that they can manifest anywhere else."

"What's that?"

"Look carefully at the dead bodies along this street," he suggested. "There isn't a drop of blood anywhere near any of the corpses, even the ones that were torn in half." Rei noticed that, yes, even that decapitated child didn't have a drop of blood anywhere near him. "An Abyss can only manifest through the blood of the dead."

"That's right." Rei's eyes widened as Shinji pushed her away and slashed at the yellow-eyed monster in human form.

The teen looked at her, and shouted "RUN!" before slamming his fist into Kashima's jaw, using the contact to drag him to the other side of the city with Air Trick.

Rei looked down the street at the creatures made of blood.

They threw balls of fire at her.

* * *

The black convertible roared down the road into Tokyo-3. The woman in the passenger seat turned to the bleach-haired driver. "Kanji-kun," she started, "Are you sure those men will be alright?"

The man adjusted his sunglasses. "Don't worry, I just knocked'em around a little; they won't have anything worse than a couple a busted ribs between em." The woman sighed. "C'mon Yukiko-san, they were trying to keep us out."

"They were just doing their job-" she paused, then turned to Kanji in shock. "Do you see what's going on here?" As he shook his head, she sighed. "You're making _me_ be the cruelly logical one! That's Naoto-kun's job!"

"I'm… sorry?" he replied as he slowed to turn a corner.

Which gave that cat the perfect chance to jump in. "Aww," Yukiko started, "Aren't you a cute little kitty?" she started scratching the black cat behind his ears.

"As much as I enjoy that, this isn't really a good time."

"Hm? You say something Kanji?"

The young man looked at his passenger. "I thought you said that."

Yukiko looked into the cat's green eyes as it said, "Hi."

Their screams were heard in the shelter they passed.

* * *

Naoto stared at the tide of demon's slowly creeping toward her as she recalled her Yoshitsune. _'Another couple of hits and he'd be dead. I can't keep this up for much longer.'_ "Arahabaki!"

She stared at the long crack in the clay idol's side, which hadn't healed yet, before returning it to the tube.

'_I believe it is time to utilize one of the most oft employed tactics against such superior numbers.'_

And she ran like hell.

She looked at the dozen Abysses on the street she'd turned down.

"Shit."

She then looked at the quartet of Greeds approaching the intersection from behind her.

"This is just _such_ a good fucking day for me."

* * *

"Sensei?" the well-dressed blond guy asked. "Where's your parachute?"

The grey-haired man in question rested the edge of his katana against the floor of the military plane he'd requisitioned as he held up a few cards with a black and white face on the side the others saw. "This'll be good enough." He pocketed the cards in his leather jacket and wrapped his free arm around his fiancée's waist as he kissed her. "Wish me luck."

As the red-head did so, he looked back at the blond man. "Keep her safe for me, alright Ted?"

The white shirted man gave a jubilant "You bet!" as the prematurely grey man fell out the open door. As the woman looked out at him, Teddie asked, "You okay Rise-chan?"

"I just thought he'd grown past these stupid ideas. Instead he gained the resources to make them more elaborate."

* * *

Lieutenant Souji Seta grinned to himself as he found Naoto and the demons chasing her with his binoculars. _"This is the best idea I've had since my first day in the academy!"_ he shouted.

He pulled out his first card and crushed it. "NETHUNS!" _'First the water…'_ The God of the Sea generated a massive amount of water, which was falling as fast as Souji. He pulled out another card. "SKADI!" The embodiment of winter briefly appeared, flash freezing the falling water into a block of ice just a couple of meters short of being unable to fit between the buildings it was falling towards. "Just one thing left, Norn!" The ultimate expression of the Fortune Arcana blasted the block with Panta Rhei, shattering it and sending the pieces raining down towards the massive group that was chasing his friend down the street.

Then he saw the other fifty demons come out from behind the buildings blocking his view of the other road on the intersection. "Good thing I brought you two." He pulled out two more cards. "Vishnu! Ananta! INFINITY!" The Preserver and the King of Nagas could each be seen in one of his eyes as his body was encased with a white glow.

He landed just a few feet away from Naoto, the street cracking from the force of impact.

He barely bent his knees.

"Hey Naoto, it's been a while," Souji greeted. "What's it been now, three months?"

The out of breath woman walked up to him. Expecting maybe a hug, more likely a handshake, he was caught off guard when she slapped him. "You stupid bastard."

He pointed his sword at the approaching enemies. "What kind of greeting is that! I just saved your life!"

"I wouldn't have needed saving if you hadn't taken three hours to show up!"

Looking at the approaching Abysses, Greeds, and the Prides they'd summoned, Souji said, "Maybe we should hold off on the conversation until we take them out."

"Like I said, I've spent three hours fighting an army with members that create more members. So unless you have any bright ideas, I suggest we keep moving."

"Actually, I do." He pulled out a pair of cards. "You still have enough energy to fire a Mamudoon?"

"It doesn't work on those things."

"That's not what I'm thinking." He held up the Persona cards of Izanagi and Norn. "Aim it at the sky above them."

Seeing his plan as she summoned Yamato-Takeru, she fired a Mamudoon directly above the crowd of demons.

"Nice shot. Izangai! Norn!" The two Personas flew into the dark flame, which began to form a dark sphere over the crowd, sucking the demons into it. As it collapsed on itself, Souji couldn't help but say, "I love Black Holes." Turning to his friend he asked, "Now, what the hell's going on? Why did you order the lockdown?"

"What lockdown?" He could tell she was genuinely surprised as he told her about the quarantine that had been set up around the city. "Damn. If we survive this, I'm gonna have to have a long talk with that girl. I knew she wasn't ready."

"Wasn't ready for what?" Souji asked.

"The council ordered me to make Hikari the new Geirin before she was ready. She hasn't been trained to deal with the political ramifications of things like this. Hell, she probably wasn't even briefed on why Tokyo-3 is so important."

"Why is this place so important again?"

"It's complicated, I'll tell you all later so I won't have to explain it every time we run into someone, but it's important that we keep the demons out of the Geofront. Now, where are the others?"

"Rise and Teddie were on the jump with me, and the others should be here already." He stopped her from walking off. "You mind telling me what the hell is going on?"

"I found a student running earlier. A demon resembling Hito-Shura showed up, killed the teacher, and started a fight with Shinji."

"He alright?"

"He fought off at least two hundred demons, then disappeared. I'm guessing he's after their leader."

"Can he handle that bastard alone?"

She looked him in the eyes. "You fought a God once. You… no, We, only survived through the intervention of a greater entity. The Hito-Shura is the second or third strongest thing in Hell."

"We'd better get moving then."

* * *

"I'm actually impressed Ikari," the Hito-Shura started as he dodged another sword. "I didn't expect this from you." Shinji responded by lashing out with Shamshel. "I was sure you'd play along with my game for a few hours, just to build up suspension or something, then concoct some elaborate plan to get me crushed. But instead, you make a half-hearted attempt to help a teenage girl before running off with me, leaving her to die."

No matter how morally opposed you are to his actions, you have to give him credit for going on so nonchalantly with flying swords and a whip that could cut him in half just barely missing him. "I didn't leave her to die!" Shinji shouted as his whip cut through a support beam of the parking garage. "She shouldn't have much of a problem against those things." _'The Abyss is basically a walking mass of blood, which is high in iron. Electricity and ice should both work pretty well for her.'_

"Oh for the love of Lucifer. Even if she does have raw power, that wet behind the ears little bitch doesn't stand a chance against thirty warriors of Hell."

Shinji sent five swords at him, one of which nicked his shoulder. _'If I can just keep whittling him down until Seta's group gets here'_ "If she were fighting warriors then I'd be worried." _'Then we might be able to take him down.'_ "But she's just fighting a bunch of mindless husks. She'll be fine."

'_**You're just lying to yourself now.'**_ Shinji summoned a ring of swords around him and charged.

'_NOT the Time!'_

'_**You know you can't beat Kashima.' **_It wasn't enough to deter him, and he ducked under the path of the blades.

'_I just have to stall.' _

'_**You will die here.'**_ Shinji ducked under Kashima's punch.

'_It'll be worth it to take him down.'_

'_**Why are you so determined to kill him?'**_ He cut open the shirtless monster's cheek with Shamshel as they jumped away from each other.

'_I thought you would understand.'_

'_**Why would I?'**_ Shinji took advantage of the first distraction in the battle to repeatedly strike his enemy as blades buried the bastard.

'_You saying you've never held a grudge against someone on principal?'_

'_**I've never been one to mindlessly slaughter humans.'**_ The silhouette of the Hito-Shura could be seen in the dust cloud Shinji's swords had kicked up, covered in blood. _**'But I can't understand the logic of fighting a demon just because he does.'**_

'_That's because you gave up on your humanity.'_

The blood-soaked demon raised his hand and muttered, "Gundari." His eyes flashed green for a moment before a razor wind shot out at Shinji, tearing off several pieces of skin as he was thrown through a wall.

He caught a glimpse of his arm as he was falling. It was rapidly generating scar tissue instead of regenerating. _'Shit. If I'm just generating scar tissue…'_ The steel ground of the city warped under him when he landed. Looking up at the demon standing in the hole in the wall, he couldn't help but think, _'Fuck.' _It was justified by the changed appearance of the bastard. His teeth had elongated into fangs, what could be seen of his body was covered in green scales, and his hands had changed into claws, each of which had a nail extending about half a foot.

"**Congratulations Ikari. You're the first person to push me into a Trigger for centuries. Maybe you aren't such a disgrace to your family after all. I almost feel bad about having to kill you now."** The thing that was once Naoki Kashima jumped as Shinji rolled out of the way. **"The boss only wanted me to check you out, but you've done something that very few people did and lived to tell about it."** Shinji struggled to his feet and faced the beast. The gleam in its eyes might have killed a lesser being. **"You've pissed me off."**

* * *

"What the hell has that stupid bastard gotten himself into?" Alice muttered to herself. She could sense massive amounts of power flowing from where she knew Shinji was. Well, relatively sure. It was one of about four or five hotspots in the city right now. It was also hot enough to heat up the entire city. "I haven't felt something _this_ strong since- Oh Hell."

* * *

"_You guys!"_

"What is it Rise-chan?" asked Souji.

"_There's about a dozen of those things heading towards you two. I think their chasing someone."_

Souji knew as well as Naoto that they needed to keep moving, but she was the only one of the two to stop moving. "What are you doing?"

"I can't just leave someone like this, and they move faster than we do anyway." Souji was standing ready to fight.

"Weren't you the one who said that we need to keep moving and help take Hito-Shura down?"

"Yeah, and I also know that Kanji'll be here with his car much quicker than we could run to where they're fighting. This way, we keep one more person alive."

She wasn't happy about it, but waiting for Kanji and Yukiko was a better option than going on alone with just her Persona. "Fine."

"_Um, you guys? I don't want to worry you or anything, but there's only nine moving towards you now."_

"What happened to the others?" asked Souji.

"_I don't know, they just… stopped moving."_

"Why would they stop? Did they catch whoever they're chasing?"

"_No, whoever it is is still moving, and I think she had something to do with stopping them."_

"What do you mean?"

"_I scanned further back, and there's a bunch of clumps of them that just stopped moving, groups of three or four. Anyway, you're about to find out, they're almost there."_

Souji and Naoto saw someone in a baggy blue hooded-sweatshirt turn the corner, raise her arms, and send a blizzard down the street behind her before continuing. "What. The. Fuck."

Naoto had a slightly different reaction. "Is that you Ayanami?"

The panting girl stopped and lowered her hood. "Naoto-san?"

"You know her?" Souji was more surprised by that than the blizzard she threw. Understandable that that would be what surprised him more than the blizzard. He'd seen weirder.

"She's staying with Shinji," she whispered to him. Loud enough for her to hear, she asked, "What happened to Shinji-san?"

"The guy… from the school. Ran… into him. Shinji started… to fight him." She was having trouble standing.

Souji ran forward to steady her. "You alright uh, Ayanami-san?"

"Spiritual fatigue," Naoto diagnosed. "She used a lot more of her power than she should have. You remember what that feels like, don't you?"

He grimaced at the memory. Knowing that your body is completely functional and in great shape, but unable to use the power that was a part of you. It was probably one of the worst memories he had after what happened to Nanako. "Damn. Naoto, I know you both wanted to avoid drawing attention to yourselves, but subtlety isn't an option any more. Summon your Oboroguruma and get us moving."

If Souji had spoken that way to any other summoner in the UN, he would have been court-marshaled. However, Naoto had known him long enough that she trusted his judgment and would follow his orders, even if she did outrank him. "Fine." She summoned the car, which was just happy to be out of its tube again. "Put her in, we need to get moving."

* * *

Shinji rolled out of the way of another whirlwind, which took out the wall of the building behind him._ 'Shit. If he hits me with one of those in this state…'_

'_**Let me out.'**_

'_Not a chance in Hell!'_ he mentally shouted at his prisoner. He tried to lift Shamshel with his wrecked right arm, then took it with his left and tried to hit the thing across the street from him. Every swing was knocked back by a demonic wind except the last, which the monster allowed to approach before slicing it in half with a sweep of its claws. With the knowledge that every weapon he had in his arsenal was useless, Shinji did the only thing he still could.

He ran. _**'I can defeat him. You cannot.'**_

Shinji turned down an alley, knowing that the only way he could survive was to escape._ 'There isn't a fucking thing you could do, even if I did give you control. This damn body has used up all the green blood in it just healing the muscle damage I incurred trying to keep up with him, not to mention that it doesn't even have enough power left to summon a sword; much less pull an Air Trick. It can't even _run away_ properly.'_

'_**My power is separate from yours. My freedom would refresh and enhance this pathetic body.'**_

The Hito-Shura was pursuing him down the alley now._ 'I have a better offer. You give me your power or you die with me.'_

The beast jumped over Shinji, blocking the path to the street. _**'True death is something that is only feared by shattered souls like yours. I am still complete, and I will be reincarnated. This way, you will have done one useful thing in your life.'**_

"**Running away Ikari? Why would you spoil my fun like that?"** The demon smirked as he realized his opponent's situation. **"Ah, I see how it is. You've run out of juice. Can't even use a single one of your little Tricks anymore. And I was hoping to torture you like He did with Aleph until he got bored." **He began walking towards Shinji, who knew he couldn't run. As he grabbed his neck and slammed him against a wall, Shinji retreated into his own mind.

* * *

He walked toward the cage he kept in the corner of his mind. His father stared at him from within it. "I see you've made the right decision." He smiled in anticipation of his freedom as Shinji stopped in front of the door and lifted his hand.

However, instead of opening the cage as Vergil had expected, he grabbed him by his collar. "How you like this? If you don't give me your power without any fuss, I'll drag your soul with me into the Void. It doesn't matter if you are complete, as long as I have your soul bound to mine directly, you'll be sucked in with me. So, last chance. Give me your power or be condemned to an eternity of nothingness."

* * *

Hito-Shura pulled back his claw…

* * *

Vergil gave his answer.

* * *

And Shinji was gutted.


	9. Rise Black Angel

WiredJunkie1100: Lucifer has the Yamato (for now). The problem with stepping on Hito-Shura is that he's so damn powerful you can't be sure if he'd just run away from it, climb up it, or catch the damn foot. Persona Users can use conventional weapons, for anything else they have to summon their Persona, which everyone but Souji would only have their initial and resolved Personas. Being a Wild Card, he has a couple hundred floating around in his head. People like Shinji, Alice, and Rei can directly do magical shit like summon swords in midair, create blizards, and make things die by asking nicely. And something to _really_ worry you about Hito-Shura: He has a different Trigger with different abilities for every Magatama he has (You can get a couple dozen in Nocturne) and the only ability shared by all of them is an AT-Field.

AthanMortis: Two words: Jet Alone. Make of them what you will.

Deep Space Cowgirl: Thanks for correcting me on Yosuke, I was to lazy to go back and check. Souji and Naoto are the only ones the UN even knew about.

Gryphon117: I replaced Orb with Blood. Green Orbs raise your health meter in a series where the main character gets his own sword run through his chest in _every damn game. _It's a safe assumption that the crap's in his bloodstream waiting to be used and is physically necessary for survivng about half the injuries you see him get in cutscenes alone.

* * *

Looking down at Shinji's body, the monster saw blood pooling around it. **"Just one of you bastards left now. So, what do you think I should do? Hunt down your long-lost uncle? Or stick around and have some fun with that bitch you were with?" **A guttural sound could be heard in his throat that might have been a chuckle. **"What am I thinking? I have plenty of time to do both!"**

That was the scene Alice had arrived to see. Hito-Shura, standing over Shinji as he bled out. "… Shinji?"

The beast sighed. **"I don't suppose there's any chance that you'll just run along and leave me to my meal, is there?"**

A single tear fell from the eye of the trembling girl as energy flowed through her arms. "I'll kill you." This wasn't any passing remark, nor was it filled with hate. Only an iron will to make the thing before her Die for what its crimes. Glowing particles of energy were gathering to her hands.

The beast grinned. **"And what do you think a little brat like you could do agai-"**

"Megido." The tiny nebula of almighty energy roared down the alley, knocking the former human into the street.

He stood and wiped the blood from his face. **"So you've got a couple of tricks. Maybe this won't be so boring."**

"Megido." The beast slashed the clump of energy as it approached, taking no more damage than a crack along a few scales on his arm. He started to run towards her as she intoned, "Samakunda. Masukukaja."

As he ran towards her, he felt his body slow down and his muscle density drop. And he was also fairly certain that his scales had gotten thinner.

When he jumped to send a blast down with wind cutter, she used her speed boost to run up a building and get behind him. "Megido." This time, the cluster was enough to break through the thicker but weakened scales on his back, forcing him toward the ground.

He flipped himself upright as he landed on his claws, and started spinning as he jumped back up to where Alice was still falling. A tornado forming around them, carrying the beast straight to her, she intoned "Rakukaja" before firing a Megido to her left, the recoil knocking her out of the twister the Hito-Shura had formed.

The beast rose out of the top of the storm he'd created and looked down at the little girl. **"Not bad kid. You know, I could use a new toy." **He thought for a moment before saying,** "Nah, I never was one for little girls."**

'_Bastard probably prefers little boys.'_ He made a sweeping motion with his claws, sending another wind cutter at the still falling girl. She knew she couldn't move, so she again intoned "Rakukaja" to make her demonic body more durable. The blades of air slammed into her body, all eight cutting at least an inch into her chest.

The assault propelled her through the first floor of a building.

* * *

The alley seemed to grow longer with every pull. "Well isn't this… just _fucking_ great," Shinji said to himself. "I finally… get the bastard to… do something useful… and I get left… in a body that'll… tear itself apart… if I fucking _do anything with it_." He'd dragged himself about three feet before stopping; his body damaged beyond the point where it could do much more than lie on ground bleeding.

Pieces of his intestines could be seen trailing behind him along the ground.

He'd seen Alice attack Hito-Shura. He knew that she wasn't strong enough to fight against him. He knew that Mudo couldn't take him down.

He knew that she wouldn't be able to use Megido enough to kill that monster.

He'd seen the key to its defense.

He knew that even if Seta and the others got there in time, they wouldn't be able to injure it badly enough to kill it, if they even got a hit past the field.

Almighty attacks were the only thing that could violate Absolute Territory.

* * *

Alice struggled to her feet as the skin on her chest knitted itself back together. "Sunnova _Bitch_!" she shouted once her lungs were working again. She usually had the luxury of keeping away from close-range fighters or having someone else, like Shinji, to take hits instead of her while she nuked the hell out of them. Her eyes flashed red as she began to float a couple of inches above the floor.

As she began to return through the holes in the walls she'd made coming in, the building began to collapse around her.

"Samakaja… Samakaja… Masukukaja." She flew through the series of holes before the pieces of the ceiling fell on the spot she'd been standing in.

She was moving faster than a normal human could see. Unfortunately, the beast she was fighting had senses far beyond a mere human.

"**Well well… I didn't think you'd make it out of there in-" **He was cut off as Alice fired a Megido that was much larger than the ones he'd come to expect from her. He grunted as he caught it, commenting **"So you gave yourself a bit of a boost while you were inside, huh?"**

He threw the sphere into the air and his widened in shock as Alice got into his face and said, "Megidola." A star formed between her hands and traveled the whole three inches from her to his chest fast enough to create a sonic boom. She flew after him as the sphere tried to tear its way through his scales, forcing herself through the almighty sphere and ramming her hands into the thing's chest, firmly gripping his lungs.

"**Go ahead and try to tear those out, I've regenerated all of my limbs in a single fight!"**

"How about everything from the neck down?" The monster looked at her for a moment before realizing her intent, and began to try to es- "MEGIDOLA!"

* * *

"_You guys have to hurry! I can barely sense Alice-chan, and I can't feel Ikari-san at all!"_

"Yeah, well; this bike is hard enough to balance with just two people, and we picked up a third wheel," The driver complained as his motorcycle began to tilt to the left. He turned into it, using his ride to crush a line of Envies. "How much further?"

* * *

"You should get there around the same time as Kanji-kun. You'll probably be first on the scene though, so you better be ready for a fight."

"_Damn. Why am I still getting stuck with the shitty jobs?"_

"Because you're able to pull them off," Rise replied with a bit of irk in her voice. _'How can he complain about arriving too quickly to something like that?'_

Teddie couldn't help but say, "I don't like this." At her questioning look, he elaborated. "It just doesn't feel right; I should be out there helping people with Sensei and the others."

She knew not fighting with the others was killing the self-proclaimed 'Master of Fuzzy Logic'. "Then go."

"But Sensei said to-" Rise interrupted him.

"Forget what he said! I'm not the fragile little girl I used to be; I can take care of myself. He's just being overprotective." She put her hand on his shoulder. "You stayed here for Nana-chan's sake, right?" He nodded as she continued, "Well, she needs you to do this more than I need you here." Nana-chan had always been an easy way to convince him.

* * *

The demon's head and limbs flew away from her as its torso was disintegrated.

Alice herself was also suffering from having been so close to an almighty attack. Her body had temporarily shut itself down to focus on regeneration, something that she _really _couldn't afford to do right now.

Especially since the pieces of the Hito-Shura were crawling down the street to the head. Limbs were dragging themselves, organs crawled along, even the pieces that were unrecognizable seemed to just… _ooze_ toward their destination.

The bastard stood as his body reconnected all the nerves and organs and muscles.

* * *

"You sure about this?" Yosuke asked over his shoulder.

"Just get me lined up," Chie snapped.

Yosuke answered "Yes ma'am" with a sigh. He turned on to the street Rise had told him to as Chie kicked into the air and positioned herself to jump forward, leaving him with a view he would have enjoyed if it weren't for the circumstances. Using her commands, he lined his bike up to head straight toward the demon in the street. "GO!"

She jumped forward, flying down the street to deliver a kick to Hito-Shura's head, only for the kick to stop short a couple of inches away from his head. _'The hell? A Tetrakarn?'_ She kicked the barrier with her other leg to get away, followed by a kick straight up in the air once she was away accompanied by the sound of breaking glass. "Suzuka Gongen!"

The white armored warrior flew forth as Chie wished for her to and swung her weapon to strike the beast before fading away.

Yosuke grimaced under his helmet as he saw the dust cloud Chie had kicked up. "Get ready to jump kid."

Kensuke had just enough time to ask "Huh?" before Yosuke wrapped his arm around the kid and dragged him along as he jumped over the dust cloud, leaving his bike to run into the demon inside it.

While in the air, Yosuke saw Alice's body lying further along the road; though he wasn't quite sure it was her. When he landed he dropped Kensuke on the ground and looked down at him. "You see that girl back there?" He waited for the teenager to nod yes before going on. Run down there and get her out of the way. This isn't going to be any place for a couple of kids your age to be in a few minutes. Take her somewhere safe." The boy nodded before running down to do as he was told.

"**Fucking insects. Every time I get rid of one of you, another pops out. Is it so wrong to want to enjoy this feast peacefully?"**

Yosuke answered by summoning Susano-O and blasting him with a Garudyne.

He shrugged it off. **"Is that the best you can do? I've killed stronger things than the Actual Gods that you're summoning pale shadows of."** Before him, the two of them were nothing.

* * *

"I think she's waking up." Souji looked into the backseat and tossed Naoto a pair of eggs. "Why did you just throw eggs at me?"

"Just eat one of the damn eggs then give her the other damn egg." He took a third out of his jacket and popped it into his mouth. "They restore Spiritual Power. I found them at an antiques store."

She stared at the back of his head for a few seconds before saying, somewhat dubiously, "You expect me to eat an egg you bought from an antiques dealer."

"She used to work for the Kirijo Group if it makes a difference to you. Now eat the fucking egg."

Kirijo was one of the only companies that had actually done something in the field of demons besides finding a more cost-effective way to mass produce the containment tubes the 'authorized' summoners used. Naoto eyed the egg for a few more seconds before cautiously placing it in her mouth. She looked like she was sick as the taste of raw egg spread through her mouth. Once she'd gone against her every instinct and swallowed it, she did feel the effect that Souji had told her about. "Did it have to be raw?"

"Tried cooking one once," he began from the passenger seat in the front. "Didn't go well."

"What happened? Did it diminish the effect or something?"

"No… it blew up." He looked where he thought Rise was watching from. "How much further?"

"_About five minutes at this rate."_

He looked at the empty driver's seat. "Can you go any faster?"

He grabbed onto the dashboard and regretted the lack of seatbelts.

* * *

He could hear Hanamura and Satonaka fighting. "Damn it… Just grab Alice… and get the… hell away… from here. Get… Karina. She knows the… the plan." _'I can't even move now.'_

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen." A teenage girl holding a sword ablaze with blue fire walked down the alley. "I was wondering why this sword reacted to you like this." She smirked. "Now I know." Shinji's vision began to fade as she walked to him, sword ready to stab.

* * *

Yosuke was panting as Chie jumped back to his side. "Nothing's working. Ice, wind, water, physicals; the bastard's just shrugging off everything we throw at him!"

"Pull yourself together Yosuke! We need to hold him off until the others get here, maybe they have something that won't just bounce off of it." She saw a woman with long black hair looking around the corner of a building. She kept her eyes wandering, doing what she could to avoid letting it slip that she'd seen Yukiko.

She charged forward as Yosuke protested her attempt at another head-on assault as the two hiding behind the building waited for her to get out of the way. Once Chie jumped to her right, Yukiko stepped out and swung her fan. "Hear me, Amaterasu!"

The Goddess of the Sun appeared above her, no details of her body visible beyond the shine she gave off, a sword in her right hand, and something that looked like a fan behind her connected to her wrists. She raised her empty left hand and a stream of fire rushed toward the monster Yosuke and Chie had been fighting.

He didn't move, because he knew the flames wouldn't hurt him.

He didn't know that the shockwave triggered by throwing a car with a full tank of gas through a wall of flame, much like the one approaching him, wouldn't slip past his field either.

So he was still off guard when a man with bleached hair ran up and punched him hard enough to move him back, just from the force his AT-Field was hit by. Kanji pulled the shield off his back and swung it as hard as he could at the beast.

It was a testament to the man who made it that the shield didn't bend at all.

Unfortunately, it also stopped short of actually hitting the demon.

Kanji had just enough time to ask, "The hell?" before having to actually use the shield as a shield instead of another blunt object as Hito-Shura slashed at him with both arms, knocking him into a streetlight. Thankfully, the only things harmed were the light and Kanji's pride. "I… do not… like… this city."

The beast turned to his right as he heard the engine of a car approaching and was promptly hit in the face by a Megido.

The group saw something that they really should have had more of a problem with.

Souji was holding his sword above his head, standing atop the engine block of an approaching Oboroguruma. "DRIVE ME CLOSER! I WANT TO HIT HIM WITH MY SWORD!"

The demon tried to tell him to get closer on his own, but he was standing on what passed for its mouth. It hit the brakes and threw him at the Hito-Shura.

"GOOD ENOUGH!" He flew forward and swung his sword when he was next to the demon. The far end of the sword stopped moving.

He and the rest of the blade didn't.

Souji landed next to Yukiko. "Are you okay?"

He looked at the broken weapon in his hand. "I _liked_ that sword." He tossed it aside as he looked at Yosuke and Kanji, then called two cards to his hands. "Nethuns!"

"Susano-O!"

"_**MAELSTROM!"**_

The Gods of the Sea struck the ground as water began to rise around the Hito-Shura, trapping him in the center of a whirlpool. Souji looked over at Kanji as he held up the other card.

"Take-Mikazuchi!"

"Thor!"

"_**THUNDER REIGN!"**_

The two Thunder Gods flew above the whirlpool the demon was trapped in, raised their arms to the sky, and called down lightning to strike at the center of the storm.

The two fusion spells might have been enough to kill Izanami.

The Hito-Shura simply stood, perfectly dry, surrounded by puddles of electrically charged water. **"Is that all you've got?"**

* * *

"I can't have you dying here, you'll be far more useful alive."

"**GYAAAAAAAARRRGGHHHH!"**

* * *

Souji crushed the card in his hand. "Ten of Swords." The only solid thing that was created was an unadorned hilt; the blade was barely visible and incorporeal. "Nihil Blade." He pulled another card out and held it to the hilt, crushing it and dragging his hand down the blade. "Michael." He gave a couple of swings to the newly formed golden sword. "Deus Xiphos."

Kanji threw him his shield as he charged forward, ready to swing the weapon. He ducked under a swing of the beast's claws, slashing up and penetrating the AT-Field.

Souji smirked as the blade nicked the demon's chin as it jumped away. **"The fuck!"** It looked at the blade of the sword Souji created, then gave a smirk of his own. **"So that's it; a Megido running along the edge. I always wondered how that holier-than-thou bastard pulled off the 'Cut Through Anything' trick."**

"Knowing how a gun works doesn't make a person bulletproof," Souji commented as he ran toward the demon. "And knowing how this sword works won't keep it from _Killing_ you." He thrust the sword into the demons leg as he blocked a strike with Kanji's shield. "Over the years, I've seen a _lot_ of shit more fucked up than you, and they all have one thing in common."

"**And what's that?"** the demon asked as he grazed Seta's side.

He cut its leg off as he answered, "If you tear it apart enough times, it eventually stays in pieces."

He was rewarded for his effort by being kicked down the street by a newly formed limb.** "Pathetic. He was far better than you. He could have crushed me with a thought."**

The rest of the Persona Users present had seen the ineffectiveness of their attacks and were focused on their leader, as was the demon he was fighting.

Souji was the only one looking down the street, and was the only one who saw the thing before the sound of rattling chains alerted them.

The demon looked back and took in the familiar appearance of the approaching figure. An eight foot tall white haired man with glowing blue eyes and a pulsing purple scar running vertically across each, wearing a black suit of armor covered in chains, a frayed cape, and carrying a sword longer than the Hito-Shura was tall.

The Hito-Shura turned his back to Souji and approached the newcomer. **"Hey there Nelo Angelo, I haven't seen your miserable ass for years! How've ya been?" **

The figure responded by swinging his unoccupied left hand, which sent a black chain with a small padlock on the end flying at the demon. **"My name,"** the chain made an audible impact on the field before breaking through it, **"Is Vergil."**

'_**That's impossible,'**_ the Hito-Shura thought in horror as he ducked under the projectile. _**'I saw him die! And even if he managed to survive, why the hell does he have that damn sword?'**_ Said sword was burning with blue flame, flames that flew at him when Vergil swung it. _**'I need to get that fucking thing away from him.'**_

The smaller demon rushed to the larger one, weaving between fire and chains. Vergil didn't move an inch as his sword was knocked into the air, and struck the demon with his armored knee instead of running to retrieve his weapon. The smaller demon was knocked into the air as Vergil grabbed his leg with a chain, pulled him back, and rammed a burning fist into his face.

The more experienced combatant made use of the chain, using it to pull himself to the armored man spinning like a top, shredding the armor on his chest as the Hito-Shura freed himself of the chain and jumped back. **"There's no greater form of failure than that body you're in!"**

"**Resorting to petty insults now that you realize you're going to lose?"** Vergil swung his chain in a broad arc, tearing through a line of buildings, wrapping it around the hilt of the blade embedded in the road.

"**No, it really is!"** the smaller demon shouted as Vergil ripped the sword from the ground. **"That form was built for only one purpose, and you couldn't do **_**that**_**!"** He ducked under the sword as it tore through the buildings on the other side of the street.** "Sorry, you don't come off that well in that story. It was more Mundus's incompetence in using the tool he gained than anything."**

"**I AM NOT YOUR TOOL!"** Vergil swung the sword in an arc above his head, slamming it into the street and sending a giant stream of fire roaring down the street.

* * *

Souji had done his duty and kept his friends safe when he saw the second demon. He ordered them to pile into the Oboroguruma and get the hell away from there. The demon was upset at the limbs sticking out of… him? it?... but ignored it in favor of escape when the fireballs started flying.

If they were still in the street all of them except Yukiko and Souji would have been roasted.

"I just _know_ that my uncle will find a way to arrest me for this."

"Senpai, he doesn't even know you're here."

"He'll find a way."

The little girl on the floorboard looked up at him. "You all do realize that sooner or later we have to go back and restrain Shinji, don't you?"

Yukiko managed to look horrified with her head between Naoto's legs. "_That_ was Shinji?"

"Kind of. It's a long story that he'll be pissed about if someone else tells it."

* * *

The Hito-Shura stood in his human form, bruised and bleeding as the district burned around him. "Not bad… for a failure. I haven't been pushed like _this_… since your father." He smirked as he said, "Marogareh." His eyes flashed red as the horn on his nape began to glow. **"You didn't think I was really going all out against that bastard kid of yours, did you?"** His body began to convulse as his muscles threatened to tear open his skin, which it may have after the obsidian scales grew to cover it. Spines shot out along his back as a reptilian tail burst from within him, covered in similar spines. **"NOT SO COCKY NOW, ARE YOU BASTARD!"**

_**Enough, Naoki**_

The two demons turned and saw a horned, six winged angel approaching through the flames, his defined body bare save a strip of cloth loosely wrapped around him covering his genitals.

_**I told you to simply test the boy. **_

_**Yet you saw fit to place him in such a state that I had no choice but to free his father to keep him alive.**_

_**This… displeases me.**_

"**I don't give a damn what pleases you!"** Vergil charged at the Fallen Angel, sword in hand ready to strike. The Lord of Hell simply raised his hand as a block of ice encased the approaching demon.

* * *

Rise dismissed Kanzeon as she collapsed to her knees. No, even without summoning her Persona, that thing's mere presence was enough to drown out everything else in the city.

"No… make it stop. Someone… Anyone!" It was worse than the fight against Izanami. Then, she felt every one of her friends disappear.

Now, with the Morning Star's presence, she was so overwhelmed she could barely sense _herself._

* * *

Vergil finally burned through the ice, but the Hito-Shura and Lucifer were long since gone. The armored demon fell to his knees, punching the ground with enough force to send cracks running down the street. "Damnit… I failed again. I had them _right in front of me!"_ He blinked away the tears that were beginning to blur his eyes. "All these years… and I couldn't do a _**Damn Thing!**_"

The demon stood up and looked at the damage around him with what might have been disappointment. "Looks like I still need more power."


	10. Chaining the Beast

Good news people! This day in the story is finally over! Bad news, school starts again in a couple of weeks. Also, free cake for anyone who can guess who the two unnamed people in this chapter are.

WiredJunkiee1100: Devil May Cry 4 didn't happen in this universe, but Fortuna, the Order of the Sword, and two of the game's Devil's Arms are still i here. And of course I'm going to take weaknesses and immunities into account. Hell, Souji could swim in lava if he needed to. He'd come out naked, but uninjured. And AT-Fields can be broken down, but if you don't have enough power, you won't tear it down no matter how many times you hit it. Hito-Shura is just that damn strong.

Deep Space Cowgirl: SEELE has cameras everywhere. So do the civilians who saw Vergil fight Hito-Shura.

* * *

Her vision cycled through thermals, night vision, and settled on the MAG detector. She held two fingers against her right temple and said, "Confirmed. Approximately 2500 demons present within the area. Estimated time to eliminate: eleven hours, 17 minutes with a potential variant of two hours based on structural damage, erratic movement patterns, and civilian intervention. Requesting permission to engage." She began to disrobe as she pulled the armored jumpsuit from her duffel bag.

Were anyone near enough, they would have seen that the brunette's back had an oval-like scar around a patch of skin that was a slightly different color. _"Granted. Priority is the elimination of the demons. Secondary objectives are to avoid identification and rescue of civilians."_ The armored suit she pulled on was designed to be easy to move in, leaving the shoulders, knees, and hips uncovered and the armor covering the remainder of the suit was layered instead of a single plate for the sake of breathability. The suit itself wouldn't protect from a powerful demon's strike, but the REMFs wouldn't care if she died. She was expendable, was using a redundant system, and the suit itself wasn't originally designed for combat on foot. The fact that she'd appreciated the Evangelion saving them didn't help either.

She lowered the steel visor that would double as a mask. "Undertood. DEMONICA IS Unit ALPHA, proceeding to the target zone."

* * *

Souji stood before the group as they fell out of the demonic car. "We aren't going to make any progress against this guy just charging randomly like we did against that…" Lacking any better way to describe the former human they'd fought, he finished, "_thing_. We need to stop and think about this, and we need to coordinate better." Compared to the level of teamwork they'd had before, that showing had been pathetic.

He stopped and closed his eyes as he made use of the latent powers of the Wild Card. His abilities to scan targets were nowhere near Rise, or even Teddie, but he could still get a general idea of the enemy's strength and location if he stopped to focus. His eyes snapped open once he'd found Vergil.

"Alright, this guy's damn strong, and if it comes to matching brute force against brute force, I want Kanji-kun with me for this. He also seems to have a bit of a thing for fire, so your coming with me too Yuki-chan. Naoto, don't take this the wrong way, but I think you'd be better off going with the others to clear out the city." Seeing her ready to argue the point, he continued, "You can handle several opponents at a time with your demons, but this guy moves way to fast for you to get a hit in with your gun, and you don't do melee."

Naoto nearly growled at him. "I can handle myself! I'm going whether you want me to or not." This time, she interrupted his protest before it began. "We can't guarantee that another demon won't try breaking down there soon anyway, and you know that we have to keep what's down there safe. It's my duty as a Devil Summoner."

Souji sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "Fine, just keep your distance." Naoto walked over to stand with Kanji and Yukiko with a satisfied smirk on her face. "Yosuke, I want you and Chie to try and put out these fires. If we leave them for too long, they could burn down the whole topside of the city while the emergency services are so focused on everything else that's going wrong. Once you've taken care of them, I need you to check on Rise."

Souji looked his friend in the eye, and, for a moment, Yosuke saw how much it was hurting Souji not to be running to her at that moment. Then Souji blinked and it was gone. "Don't worry man, we're all over it."

He turned to Rei and Alice, who were staring to the center of the blue fire that Vergil was in. "Ayanami-san, Alice-chan; I'm not so presumptuous as to assume I can order you around, and I'm sure you're tired, but I'd appreciate it if you came with the three of us to restrain… whatever took control of Ikari-kun."

The significantly shorter girl smirked as she replied, "Just try and stop us."

Souji then shifted his gaze to the spectacled teen sitting on the ground. Still unsure of the boy's name, he simply referred to him as "Kid," before telling him "you're nowhere near the level you need to be to run around here on your own. Find a shelter in- Actually, strike that." He turned to the blue capped woman who was checking on her demons. "Yosuke-kun, Chie-chan; drag this kid with you and stick him a shelter if you can find one, but don't send him off on his own. Kid, stay with them if you want to live."

Kensuke just gulped, too nervous to do anything more than nod.

* * *

Vergil looked at the black armor over his arm before shifting his focus to the ancestral weapon that had been transformed with him and sighed. It wasn't anywhere near as powerful as it had been thirteen years ago, but even in this sealed state it would be strong enough for his purposes at the moment. After all, Lucifer and his servant had returned to Hell, Heaven didn't have a representative present at the moment, and his only family was on the other side of the world. He should be able to handle anything that he had to fight for a while.

But still wouldn't be enough to take down his true enemies, so he needed to find a way to return himself and his blade to their prior forms, or a suitable replacement for the weapon. He sighed at the thought. _'Where am I going to find a weapon that could match this blade?'_ However, another thought occurred to him as he reviewed his s-… Vessel's… memories. _'That giant demon, Karina. I might be able to twist their contract to bring her into my service or strengthen myself with 'R'n unsain at Abertha. If not, well, they called her 'UNIT-01'. His knowledge of the occult may be lacking far more than it should for a man in his position, but Rokubungi is far from stupid; he'd have more than one prepared.'_ And what a happy coincidence that the road he'd damaged was the opening for an Eva's catapult.

"Looks like things are finally falling into place for me," Vergil smirked as he ran his sword into the ground. Blue fire ran along the damaged steel, melting the damaged portions to fall through and landing on the next layer of armor protecting the Geofront. _'This may take longer than I thought.'_

* * *

Fuyutsuki looked down at his people from the command tower in Central Dogma. _'Why did you have to leave now of all times, Gendo?'_ With their Commander in America, responsibility fell to him, for all the good it did.

Below his gaze, Misato was almost pleading for her friend to have something that could help.

"I'm sorry Misato," the near lifeless voice of Ritsuko Akagi barely spoke. "We never prepared for enemies on foot; we never thought we'd need to."

Misato swore before turning her attention to Makoto. "Hyuga, how far has that thing in the launch tubes gotten?"

The spectacled man continued typing as he answered, "The target has reached the nineteenth- no, the _twentieth_ layer of armor!"

Misato's fist clenched as she prepared to order an evacuation before being interrupted when Maya shouted, "Confirmed! The target is giving off a black pattern-"

"_Target has reached the final hatch!"_

"-Massive fluctuating pattern at the top of exit point! MAGI can't get a reading, it's changing too quickly!"

"What the hell is it!"

* * *

Alice leaned over and looked down at the blue light a good two kilometers straight. "Are you sure this is the best way to get down there?"

The grey haired man behind the rest of the group answered, "Nope, but it's the fastest." As Naoto ran through her tubes trying to remember which one had Kresnik, Souji summoned Suparna to knock them down the oversized elevator shaft with a sweep of it's enormous wings before dismissing the Persona he'd summoned, jumping down after them, seeing Vergil break the last barricade, summoned Izanagi-no-Okami, and cast Grydyne on the opening of the shaft.

Normally, the gravity altering abilities of the Gry line of spells would damage the target by increasing the force of gravity until it turned the target into a pancake. Instead, Souji had opted to use it to create a gravitational field to force the shaft shut, and would pull his group towards it with enough force to stop them from dying when they hit the ground.

Everyone except him landed on their feet uninjured. Souji landed on Vergil's shoulders and used his momentum to force his Deus Xiphos through Vergil's skull and it continued straight until it went out through his knee. Vergil looked up and gave Souji just enough time to think _'Oh shi-'_ before a chain was wrapped around his neck.

With a flick of his left wrist, Vergil threw Souji into a wall and raised his burning sword. As he swung down with the blade, Kanji ran forward to prevent the attack by cutting off his swing. The shield was heated enough to begin burning his hands, but he didn't drop it until the flames dissipated.

"**Not bad. I'll consider letting you live if give up now."**

Naoto answered his offer for Kanji by shooting his left hand, causing him to pull it, and Souji, in such a way that the chain had enough slack for him to escape.

Kanji jumped back to cover his weaponless sempai as Vergil sighed. **"Such foolish humans, always insisting on making things more difficult for themselves than necessary." **Vergil raised his left hand, palm facing Naoto, as flame began to gather around it.

Rei prepared to raise a wall of ice to protect her ally, but Alice grabbed her arm and shook her head. There was no sense in her wasting the energy she had left on raising a defense inferior to the one Yukiko raised.

"Amaterasu!" The Sun Goddess rose with it's sword aimed not at the attacker, but just ahead of Naoto. Naoto herself didn't make any effort to get out of the way, and allowed a small smile of relief as the flames met a Red Wall.

Vergil blinked once in confusion before recognizing the ability used. **"Ah, I see. You're Persona Users. That explains why you were merely humiliated against him instead of being slaughtered like the insects you are."**

"You callin us weak!" Kanji shouted.

"**Do you not consider yourselves beyond the insects you crush underfoot every day?"**

Vergil had accomplished something that honestly wasn't very difficult; he'd gotten Kanji pissed. The enraged Persona User ran forward, ducked under a slash from the larger demon's blade, grabbing the armored hand descending above him, and using it to pull himself up and break Vergil's jaw. "Don't look down on humans you sunnova- WHOA!" Kanji jumped away from the now flaming left arm he'd been holding and made a crushing motion with his own hand. "Rokuten Maoh!" A mechanical figure with flames painted on raised the sword that was almost half the length of its protruding mustache into the air and fired a Ziodyne at the armored demon.

Vergil cleanly cut through the lightning, splitting it into two bolts that struck the floor to either side of him. He smirked before Souji summoned Melchizedek to slam its fist against the demon, who held his sword up in defense. Souji clenched his teeth at the mental strain of keeping his Persona in a struggle against Vergil as he realized, _'We can't beat him down without killing him and Ikari with him.'_

Alice read this thought as she began trying to work out how to put Shinji back in control. _'He's right.'_ Souji dismissed the Righteous King as Naoto sent Yamato-Takeru to start a sword fight. Knowing that kind of strain involved in holding a Persona in a physical battle, Naoto was sure to keep her Persona from locking blades with Vergil. When she dismissed the Persona to keep it from taking a hit from the chain he'd been swinging around, Alice figured it out. _'Those chains wrapped around him are the seal.'_ She stepped forward and told Naoto what she'd figured out before casting a Sukukaja on herself.

She propelled herself forward, firing a Megido without making any real effort to hit Vergil. The larger demon swung its chain at her while she was between him and Souji. The open lock on the end of it brushed her left cheek with enough force to turn her to face Souji. "Catch it!"

Souji saw the hunk of metal flying toward him and changed Persona. It's important to note that the qualities of a Persona affected the user; their physical strength, endurance, speed. In this case, Souji focused on a Persona that would let him fuck over the laws of probability and catch the lock without injuring himself.

Vergil grimaced as he sent a stream of fire down the chain. Souji switched Personas again and used Surtr to knock it into Vergil's face.

While Vergil regrew his face, Souji switched to Zaou-Gongen, pulled Vergil toward him and broke his face against his fist. "KANJI! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

"AND DO WHAT!" the former delinquent shouted.

Souji circled around Vergil underneath his sword arm and jumped onto his shoulders, slamming his palms against the demon's ears. "TIE HIM UP!" Vergil tried to hit Souji with his sword, but the Persona User jumped forward then kicked the ground to dash between the larger figure's legs, still gripping the chain.

Vergil turned around without making an effort to remove the chain as Kanji grabbed his wrist. As Kanji pulled the second chain from the sword arm, Vergil set it ablaze and Kanji through the chain into the air. Naoto shot the padlock, sending it toward the other fireproof person, Yukiko.

The raven-haired woman caught the burning chain, her skin not the least bit marred by the flames, though she'd have to replace the shirt.

In retrospect, it might not have been a good idea to throw the chain at the physically weakest person there, even if she was fireproof.

Vergil dropped his sword and pulled the chain, sending Yukiko flying through the air.

But, you know, hindsight is 20/20 and such.

Yukiko summoned her Persona, using it to melt the wall she was flying towards and raising a Red Wall around herself.

The fireproofing skill was for the sake of her modesty more than anything else. Otherwise she would have come out of the now liquid metal naked.

Kanji took advantage of Vergil having taken his focus off of him by breaking his jaw before Yukiko threw him the chain again. Within moments, the armored demon was completely wrapped in chains and lying on the floor with Souji and Kanji holding him down. "Now what?"

Alice walked up to them and pulled the locks on the chains together, locking them in place. "Get back." She followed her own advice as Souji and Kanji were hit by the shrapnel of Vergil's exploding armor, revealing a bruised and bleeding Shinji underneath. Yukiko ran over to begin healing him as Alice slowly moved to Naoto's side before muttering something. Seeing Naoto slightly tilt her head forward, Alice lied on the ground and said, "I surrender."

Naoto pulled out one of her empty kuda, aiming it at Alice before she was pulled into it by a sickly green light. Yukiko looked up from healing the still injured but no longer fatally boy in confusion before Souji put one hand on her head and the other on Kanji's. "Sorry bout this." He slammed their heads together to knock them out before they could ask why he was apologizing.

Naoto looked at the line of Section-2 mooks before dropping her laying her gun on the floor. "I am Captain Raidou Kuzunoha, as some of you may remember. This is Lieutenant Souji Seta, one of my subordinates. We need three of your most secure cells and to speak with your Commander."

* * *

"Geez, how does he expect us to put out a fire like this?"

Yosuke took a deep breath before summoning Susano-O.

Chie scratched the side of her head as she started, "I don't think a couple of water spells will be enough to handle this." Then she saw the storm clouds begin to form. "That'll work."

* * *

The figure of a young girl carrying a shotgun leaned against wall of a building. "Just point and shoot… Just point and shoot… Just point and shoot…" Despite all the training, all the resources utilized for her, she'd never proven herself in actual combat. _'Maybe that's why they don't think of me as anything but a testbed for the DEMONICA instead of an independent project.'_

The brunette let out a shaky breath as her modified senses informed her of the approaching demons. She remembered what that man had said when she woke up in that hospital. _"I wonder… will this investment pay off?"_

Her eyes snapped back open as she turned the corner and charged at dozen Abysses that had begun to approach. _'That's right…'_ She fired a blast at the nearest one, turning the demon into a red mist. _'I can either do as they say…'_ the recoil allowed her to spin, forcing the barrel of the weapon through one side of another Abyss. _'Or die.'_ She fired another shot, shredding another Abyss as the recoil tore the gun through the current one's body.

She ducked under the scythe of another Abyss as she pulled a shock shell out of the bag at her side. She ejected the spent casings and loaded the electric ammo, firing a bolt of lightning at the attacking Abyss. "DIE YOU BASTARDS!"

The street was littered with blood when she was done.

Not a drop of it was hers.

At least the rain would wash it away.

* * *

The man arrived in Italy the next day.

It had been a pain getting back so soon without being picked up by them, but he needed to take that damn traitor down before any of the supporters he'd sent out returned. If all went as Shinji predicted, the zealots would be killed in an attack that weakened the facility they needed to take down, and he'd be able to make it look like the false prophet died in his sleep.

Then he saw Seiryu flying over the burning city.

"Maledetto Valde." Fucking Great.


	11. And Now for Someone Not Very Different

The slow, lumbering figure of a Pride approached the three running through the rain. It raised its scythe to cut them down…

And was shredded by a green wind originating from Yosuke's glowing kunai. "The rain was a pretty good idea, eh Chie?"

The kung-fu nut ducked beneath another Pride, tearing apart the sand-based demon with a kick to its chest. "I have to admit, it's probably one of the smartest things you've ever done." _'Even if you had no idea it would do this when you did it. Still,'_ she thought as a Sloth appeared to her left and swung its weapon with enough force to tear through the wall of the building behind her. _'They're a LOT stronger now, just slower than those snail thingies my parents told me about.'_

Kensuke just looked on as the two Persona Users slaughtered the nearly immobile demons with force he couldn't have imagined _after_ seeing a man summon the Trickster of the Norse Gods. They were sending gale force winds by swinging knives, kicking through things that he'd had trouble doing anything to barehanded _with_ the boost from his COMP's Harmonizer, creating rain by making a card appear in midair and cutting through it in order to put out a blue fire.

And they thought the guy _they_ answered to would be interested in _him_.

'_Screw the military, these guys are fighting Demons by using _Gods._'_

* * *

She collapsed against the side of the building, her face and arm covered in blood, her shotgun and shells with a lightning bolt, an ice crystal, and a tornado along their sides on the ground beside her. She held two fingers of her left hand against her temple. "Commander Fushimi… Proto-DEMONICA IS: Kilo confirming elimination of all targets… requesting extraction." It was pure luck on her part that Fushimi was the officer giving her orders, he was the only one who'd continued to see her as human after the JSSDF demanded that the systems being tested in her could be removed.

"_Fushimi, acknowledging completion of mission. We are pulling down the blockade and will have someone to pick you up within an hour. Are you injured?"_

She looked at her mangled right arm, covered with blood and a few electrical wires poking out from under the skin. "Nothing requiring immediate treatment, sir."

"_That's good."_

The black cat that had been following her unnoticed for the past hour waited until the soldier helped her into the black van and left before walking over to where she'd been sitting and picking up a single red hair.

Even if he couldn't see her face, they'd know who to look for if someone used it to transform into the girl.

* * *

Yosuke was the first person to see them.

The blond man was kneeling beside the soaked woman, trying to wake her up.

"Teddie! That you!" The man looked up to see Yosuke, Chie, and a kid he didn't recognize running through the rain. Yosuke started questioning the Shadow as soon as he saw that Rise wasn't lying in a pool of blood, just unconscious. In the rain. In a white shirt. Okay, he started questioning him once he was sure Rise was uninjured and wasn't wearing a bra. "What the hell happened?"

"I-I-I don't know! I wa-"

"What do you mean you don't know! Didn't Souji tell you to stay and keep an eye on her?"

Teddie's lip was quivering as he tried to answer, "Y-yes, sensei told me to stay here b-b-b-but Rise-chan told me to go help people and now I'm back she's waaaaaaaaagggggghhhh!"

'_Crap, I made him start crying.'_

As Chie hefted Rise over her shoulder, Kensuke finally got a good look at the unconscious woman's face. _'Holy crap! That's Risette!'_

"Yosuke, you can beat up the bear later, right now we need to find a safe place to take Rise."

The man looked away from the crying blond he was holding by the collar and faced Chie. "And where would that be? In case you've forgotten, we don't know our way around here!"

"You're from the city! You should be able to find your way around here easy!"

Yosuke slapped his forehead. "Chie, I told you the last time we left Inaba; I moved from _a_ city, not _this_ city!"

Teddie watched the two continue to argue about navigating cities until Kensuke spoke up. "Um, I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but my dad's apartment has a pretty good view of the road around it, and he probably won't be home again for a while."

Chie and Yosuke shut up and looked at each other. "That should work!"

* * *

The man pulled up his hood and pushed up his sunglasses. He took off running to the port city far faster than a human being should be able to move, inhumanly sharp vision making out the shape of a UN Summoner at the base of the hill. _'Shit. That fucking false prophet figured out what I was planning and sold the Order out!'_

The Summoner turned to see the man rapidly approaching and pulled out his gun, emptying the clip and showing nothing for it but the single bullet that broke the man's sunglasses in half and stopped short once it had pierced his skin. The man didn't even stumble, picking the cracked bullet out with his left hand and breaking the shooter's neck with a punch from his right.

The last thing the poor summoner saw were the glowing crimson rings in his otherwise pitch black eyes.

The man continued through the city, killing demons and summoners in single strikes until finding a standing member of the order and grabbing his shoulder. "Nero! What in the name of my grandfather is going on!" Seeing the slightly taller black-haired teen begin to kneel, almost mockingly, he shouted, "Cut the damn formalities and give me a fucking status report!"

"The scouting party must have been captured, My Lord." He gave the title in a mocking tone very few would have dared to use. He grew more serious as he told him, "They started the attack about an hour ago. They're killing everyone they come across. The bastards don't give a damn anymore about distinguishing between us and civilians, it's just a massacre!"

"Have you seen any kind of pattern? Any specific targets?"

The panting teen leaned on his modified sword as he thought. "Now that I think about it, this started up at Fortuna Castle. About twenty summoners slipped in somehow, and most of the members of the Order rushed up there. We started evacuating civilians to Headquarters as soon as we'd cleared out the castle, but most of them and about a third of the Order are still in the city, and they've cut us off from the castle with about a hundred summoners and-" He was interrupted by an incoming fireball, which tore down the building they were standing beside and tore down its wall, separating the two of them.

'_Why would they start their attack up in the mountains? Unless-' _The smaller man's eyes widened as the implications hit. "Nero, gather everyone you can. Protect my people. Help them prepare to leave the city."

"And what are you going to do!" he shouted from behind the rubble. Even under the circumstances, Nero was one of less than a dozen people in this city that would address him so informally.

The man threw off his overcoat, leaving him in a hooded red jacket, as his eyes narrowed. "I'm going to kill the bastard who betrayed my people and me by bringing the enemy to our doorstep." A mighty roar from above reminded him of another pressing issue. "Right after I kill Seiryu and the summoners that would strike us from behind."

Nero saluted as the man ran to the center of the town. Or, more accurately, to the cathedral where Sanctus lived. The fact that it was the highest building in town was just an excuse in case anyone saw him. If it weren't for that old man, they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. He wouldn't have had to send some of the Order's best fighters to die. And the old bastard had the adoration of enough people that he couldn't take him down in public.

He clenched his gloved right hand. After all, it wouldn't do for the people to know that their Savior was the one who killed their priest.

* * *

By nightfall in Tokyo-3, there were no demons remaining.

The death toll was measured in the tens of thousands.

Thanatos would be pleased with his harvest today.

NERV had yet to issue any kind of information on the incident, its Commander was still unaware of what had transpired, and the Sub-Commander hadn't left his office since beginning his meeting with _those_ two.

"So, you're telling me that things like the Angels have been around for centuries, they just weren't strong enough for most people to see them?"

The younger gray haired man answered the elder. "So you see our predicament. The general population doesn't know anything about this, but the Human Instrumentality Committee you report to does. People like us aren't really human to them, but we're tolerated as long as we're willing to do what they say."

Naoto took over the explanation. "Lieutenant Seta and I were the only members of our group to submit and join, which makes us accomplices in hiding 'Abnormals' from them. That's something they could execute us for, and I don't really see any way out of it. There _is_ a precedent for keeping things like this secret, but we don't match the conditions with just me, Geirin still isn't qualified, and Kyoji would love to see me go down in flames."

"So we'd need three of your clan's Great Summoners to pull it off?"

Naoto sighed at Souji's question. "The reason I didn't mention the fourth wasn't because I expected his permission. It was because a member of the HIC wouldn't dream of allowing people as powerful as us to operate autonomously."

"Isn't there some way that we could get the title transferred to someone who would support us?"

"That man should have passed his title on before I was even born." She locked eyes with Souji. "He hasn't even begun training a successor."

Fuyutsuki spoke up. "Is there anything you need from me?"

Souji was the one to answer. "Not at the moment; but we'll need the chamber you use to commune with the Committee once Ikari wakes up."

* * *

The enormous door was knocked from its hinges by a punch from the young man, who continued without breaking stride.

The man in papal vestments looked up from his position at the base of Sparda's statue. "I see you've returned."

"Cut the bull old man. Why did you sell out the Order to the UN?"

"'Sell out'? Whatever do you mean? All I have done is purge the heretics from my church."

"Tch. So that's what you see my followers as? Heretics?"

"What else would you call those who disregard the words of a priest for the Anti-Christ?"

The young man let out a laugh. "There are just so many things wrong in that sentence." He began counting off on his fingers. "First of all, YHVH isn't exactly a force of good in the world, so having the Anti-Christ on your side should be a _good_ thing. Second, in all likelihood Yeshua of Nazareth was just a normal man who got a hold of a gold orb and used it to make his soul a part of God through belief. Third, you aren't Jewish, Christian, or Muslim; you worship the demon that created the current world and his progeny. And if you're trying to base your claims on my appearance, then my eyes and hair should still be outweighed by this damn chaotic right hand, this Devil Bringer!"

"Christians believe that the Anti-Christ would take a similar form to the Son, and would be able to perform similar feats. But I digress; you are not the Savior the prophecy spoke of. However, I would not be able to convince most of the Order without showing them your corpse." The elderly man raised his right hand, as if he was going to rub his shoulder.

"And how do you think you'll pull that off, can you tell me that Your Holiness?" he asked mockingly.

For the first time he could recall since arriving in Fortuna five years ago, the young man saw the Vicar of Sparda enraged. "I grow tired of your arrogance, boy!" The old man rose into the air, and with a sweep of his arm a burst of energy grinded against the ground, sending benches into the air as it rushed at the man on the ground.

He seemed to just drift through the air a couple of meters to his right. Sanctus's blast tried to turn to hit him, but all it managed to do was knock a bench into the air that. He bent backwards beneath the wood and iron seat as the first end flew over his head. He grabbed other end as it completed its trip over his head, swung it as he straightened himself, and jumped to where Sanctus was floating. He swung the bench at the old man as Sanctus was enveloped in a sphere of light.

The bench broke against it.

"A fake like you could never match the power of we chosen few who have Ascended." The young man dropped the remains of the bench and raised his right arm in defense as Sanctus fired a blast of lightning at his chest.

The young man was slammed into the wall, his jacket torn off by the force of the blast that ripped open his chest. "You fucking bastard." He stood from the spot where he'd cracked the wall, bringing a few chipped pieces of the stone with him as he wiped the blood dripping out of his mouth on his glowing red palm. "You went and did it! I ordered you and Agnus to stop those damn experiments and you kept right on fucking doing it."

"Of course. Why would we stop on our path on the orders of a demon child who doesn't deserve the titles given to him? You are not fit to become our Savior, lowly demon!"

The young man ran at the transformed human, jumping into the air with his black and red arm shining as he slammed it against the sphere.

The sphere shattered. Sanctus fell to the ground. The coward tried to crawl away from the monster that had broken through his barrier. "W-what kind of monster are you?" Even if he was a _real_ Son of Sparda, he shouldn't have been able to break through his AT-Field without at least breaking the arm he used to do it.

"I told you when I arrived here; my name is Shinji Ikari, the only son of Sparda's eldest son Vergil." He reached down and lifted the man with his hand covering his mouth. "And You've proven to be far more of a monster than any demon I've ever met."

The young man calling himself Shinji kept his hand in place until Sanctus suffocated. He looked at the hole in the ceiling. "Now it's your turn."

* * *

A grey-haired Shinji Ikari groggily stood in his dark cell. "Dammit, do I have to break out of here again?" He rubbed his head before running his hands across his bare stomach. Pain was something he'd grown accustomed to; it was unavoidable when killing people being trained as human weapons, but it usually stopped soon after. The injury from the Hito-Shura was the longest he'd had any individual injury without it being healed. Keeping the same injury was different than having it reapplied every few seconds.

He rubbed his temples to alleviate the throbbing headache he had before seeing his palms. Or to be more accurate, saw the difference in his palms. _'That's not… what the hell happened?'_ He'd thought the flow of power through his body felt different; now he knew the how, just not the why.

He looked up as the door opened. "You feeling better Shinji?"

The teen blinked until his eyes adjusted to the light. "I'm the one in control, if that's what you're asking. Thanks for knocking him back down for me."

Seta grinned, despite the shitty situation. "If you want to thank me, then start planning."

Shinji had been expecting that kind of answer. "For what?" He may have expected the request, but he needed to know something about the circumstance.

Souji leveled his gaze at the part devil. "We need a way to survive our meeting with the Human Instrumentality Committee. Naoto's submitting her report to them in person right now."

'_Shit.'_ That wouldn't give him much time to come up with something. "How many were lost?" Part of him needed to know how many people died because he couldn't take down the Hito-Shura before it summoned the other demons, while the less human side was wondering if he could use a high number of fatalities as a bargaining chip and warning against those opposing him.

"Alice, Ayanami, Naoto, Yukiko, Kanji, and myself are fine; we're reasonably sure that Yosuke and Chie are alright too."

It was good to know how many of his followers had definitely survived, but he hadn't mentioned two of them. "Teddie and Kujikawa?"

"Unknown." He paused before letting himself be distracted from the current problems. "We had to let NERV know about summoners, as well as what you are. Alice told Naoto that the only way we could get out of this would be to arrest her, Kanji, Yukiko, and you to buy you the time to come up with something." He still hadn't said anything about the number of civilian casualties. Tokyo-3 was small enough for its population to be measured in hundreds of thousands instead of millions, so the loss of one hundred thousand people would remove at least five percent of the population of a city that almost everyone who could afford to leave had done so after the first Angel attack.

That was just how it was. The younger of the two people with the power to slaughter cities was the one who was directing their group, he was the one who shouldered the responsibility, he was the one expected to have a plan for whatever happened. The deaths of anyone, whether they were his followers or not, ultimately felt like his responsibility if he could have possibly done anything to stop it. Souji ignored the fact that Shinji's arm began shaking as he stopped. "How many dead?" Souji looked away. "How many innocents!"

He wouldn't be able to get Shinji to stop asking about it. "Estimates are upward of a hundred thousand."

Shinji slammed his fist against the steel wall. "Damn it… Thousands dead because I couldn't stop him… Thousands dead because I'm Too Fucking _Weak!_" His breaths were erratic. "If I'd just been stronger, faster, smarter…" _'So this is what you meant, huh? 'I _Need_ more Power', this is how it feels to have that thrown in your face.'_

'_**Like father like son, eh?'**_ Shinji ignored his father's laughter. He knew that he whould have to atone, but this wasn't the time to focus on that.

Souji placed his hand on the shorter walking WMD. "I know what it feels like to have someone's death hanging over you, but you have to keep moving forward. Otherwise, the deaths will just keep piling up."

Shinji pulled his hand from the wall with a spark neither of them noticed. "Where's the chamber?"

* * *

Shinji raised his demonic arm and sent a bolt of lightning at the Ssu-Ling of the East, only for it to stop short and bounce back at the cathedral he'd been standing atop. "Of course the fucker repels lightning." The now-angered dragon flew low with one of its (relatively) small claws extended facing the strongest thing in Fortuna, firing a much larger blast of lighting at Shinji, making it necessary for him to dash out of the way.

There were times he envied himself for having Vergil and, by extension, Air Trick. Though it couldn't be pleasant, having someone else's voice in your head.

But would it be better than being able to feel that a part of your soul was missing?

A cluster of lightning bolts pulled him out of his thoughts, forcing him to focus on the fight.

He kept moving, dashing between bolts until reaching a building, then running up the wall without missing a beat to get to an even height with the dragon, raising his arm to fire a gust of wind at the approaching beast, knocking its head back without its tail slowing down.

Shinji pulled his arm back before thrusting it forward in a grasping motion, a far larger red arm made of demonic energy flying forward, grabbing the dragon's tail, creating a platform of energy beneath him for a moment to jump up above the city and throwing Seiryu into the ocean. He fell and smashed the car he landed on.

Once he was on the actual ground again, one of the hooded members of the Order ran up to him. "My Lord, we have evacuated the civilians to Old Town and are preventing any reinforcements from moving into the mountains, but we haven't seen Nero, Captain Gloria, or Supreme General Credo."

"Damn…" Shinji grimaced as he considered the best course of action. "We have to get them into the castle. Round up anyone still in the city and crush any of the UN's soldiers who try to get through. I'll finish off Seiryu then join you to crush the force in the mountains. Who's the highest ranking officer left?"

Shinji watched Seiryu rise as the hooded man answered, "The only one above the rank of Captain is Agnus."

'_Not good.'_ Agnus was their specialist in ancient lore and alchemy, and if Shinji was right about how the attack started, none of the people in that man's lab could be trusted. Hell, the stuttering ass had been ignoring his order to stop experimenting on giving ordinary humans demonic power. "Lombardi's in charge until I, Credo, or Nero are able to get there." Rightfully, either Shinji or Credo should be commanding the troops, but Nero had a good head on his shoulders.

"N-Nero?" the grunt asked in shock. "But he's just-"

"Are you questioning my orders?"

"N-n-no my lord," the somewhat cowardly man started.

Shinji looked up at the rapidly approaching dragon. "Then get _moving!_" The moisture in the air around his arm began to crystallize and spin around it. He jumped, creating several platforms as he approached Seiryu head on, slamming his right palm against its face.

For a moment, both were still.

Then the razor sharp pieces of ice were blown through Seiryu's body by the spiraling green wind coming from Shinji's arm. He fell to the ground as the shredded remains of the Ssu-Ling's body disintegrated in midair.

* * *

A white circle glowed across the table from them, with a red one, then blue, yellow, and green along the sides. Holograms matching the colors of the circle were above above the last four, as a man with a metal visor covering his face appeared above the white.

The five most influential members of SEELE had gathered in judgment of the three people directly across from the visored man. "You may address me as Keel Lorenz. I am the head of the Human Instrumentality Committee. You will refer to these men as Commerce, Religion, Politics, and Science. You shall not inquire about their true names." It was an order, not a suggestion. "We have heard these claims that the Hito-Shura appeared in Tokyo-3, and have found nothing supporting them.

Shinji carefully examined the five men before him; recognizing only a single face, one he hadn't seen for about ten years. _'Religion, of course that's where they'd put him. Still, I need a little more to be absolutely sure…'_

"Souji Seta, Naoto Shirogane, Shinji Ikari," Keel began his judgment. "The three of you all stand accused of hiding an unregistered demon, hiding the existence of a part demon, hiding unregistered Persona Users…" He went on with his list of charges, including a few conspiracy charges that, while both true and within the reasonable bounds of conjecture given the other charges, could be dropped if Shinji's plan paid off. However, that they were working with Hell to establish a foothold for them in the human world was complete bullshit. There was already one in Australia.

Though the charges were a problem from all of them, as Vergil's son, and therefore arguably qualified for the title Son of Sparda, SEELE wouldn't kill him if he told them who his father was. However, he'd also end up as their slave until they had a use for him. Prophecies could be a bitch like that, and the one they knew about a Son of Sparda meant that he very well could be the last living thing on earth that survived until the battle with God.

Naoto was the first to respond to the charges. "Sir, none of these people are a threat! They just wanted to be able to live their lives quietly, and they risked their lives to help save these people-"

Religion spoke up. "Silence, Raidou." She was even worse off than the others. None of them could be reasonably expected to have known that they were supposed to report their abilities unless she'd told them, which was something she'd put off for months after Izanami. Now, she was starting to regret that.

'_And now that I can be absolutely sure…'_ Shinji thought with a grin before speaking, "As I recall, there are extenuating circumstances allowing a high-class summoner to gather a team and keep them unregistered to prevent interference by internal disputes, political or otherwise, in missions that could have catastrophic consequences if interrupted." And since Souji's group had defeated Izanami, stopped her from starting a civil war within the Japanese pantheon, and arguably saved the human race (and at least a good two thirds of what remained of Japan after Second Impact), the group qualified. And, since SEELE itself was a threat and would be made aware of their actions against them should they report it, they were still legally in the right. It may have been laws that didn't apply to most of the world, but they had stayed within their bounds.

Keel was the one to answer him. "Such things are only in place for situations where this very committee would cause interference, and even then you would require two high-ranking summoners for such to be permitted."

"So you wouldn't have interfered if you'd known what I was? You wouldn't have had the only person who could work with the demon you created, now the only person who ever _will_ be able to, executed? Tell me, how would that have gone!" And now thanks to the Angels and his contract with Karina, he himself was under the protection of those laws.

Religion answered. "We would have suffered a loss, and we would at best have to hope for a draw. It would not, however, have brought about the end of the world. And still, only Raidou is involved with this. Geirin is still not qualified to make such a decision, and Kyoji would not support it."

"So, if two qualified summoners supported it, summoners approved by Yatagarasu, we wouldn't have any problems?" All Shinji needed was to get one of the three remaining Summoners of the Kuzunoha clans to support him.

Keel answered him. "Yes, but you only have the support of Raidou. In light of the destruction wrought on this city, and given the lack of contradictory evidence to the charges you face, I Lorenz Kihl, sentence you all to-" But if he couldn't gain their support…

"Shisui Ikari! I, your grandson Shinji Ikari, challenge you to a duel before our patron Yatagarasu for my birthright title of Minato Kuzunoha!" … then he would make himself qualified to grant permission.

The other seven people present stared at Shinji, most in shock, one proud that he'd finally accepted the human half of his legacy, and one knowing smirk.

Religion looked at his grandson. Challenging one of the Four was old clan law, one that had only been created to make the slaying of the second Kyoji legitimate. "Mr. Ikari, in order to make such a challenge, one must perform a true summoning of a powerful demon, under the supervision of this council, negotiate a contract, and survive."

Shinji's arm began shaking as he shouted, "You need to see a fucking Summoning!" He raised his right hand to his mouth and bit a chunk of flesh off of his thumb and began drawing a circle on the ground before him as he kneeled. "Then I'll give you one!" He drew an inverted torch over several lines within the circle that none but he understood the purpose of. He slammed his palms against the now glowing mural of his own blood and began to intone.

_Hear me O Death, whose empire unconfin'd,_

_Extends to mortal tribes of ev'ry kind._

_On thee, the portion of our time depends,_

_Whose absence lengthens life, whose presence ends._

_Thy sleep perpetual bursts the vivid folds,_

_by which the soul, attracting body holds:_

_common to all, of ev'ry sex and age,_

_for nought escapes thy all destructive rage._

_Not youth itself thy clemency can gain,_

_vigorous and strong, by thee untimely slain._

_In thee the end of nature's works is known,_

_in thee all judgment is absolved alone._

_No suppliant arts thy dreadful rage control,_

_no vows revoke the purpose of thy soul._

_O blessed power, regard my ardent prayer,_

_and human life to age abundant spare._

The temperature in the room dropped by at least twenty degrees as a man with an unkempt beard, flowing black robes that appeared to meld into the ground, and a long sword over his shoulder leveled his fierce countenance at the mortal who dared to summon him, the mortal that was making a physical effort not to collapse, writhing in pain as his every orifice bled and his body was wracked with pain. _**"Why hast thou dared to summon me, mortal?"**_

Shinji struggled to raise his head to face Death. "O mighty Thanatos, this humble mortal asks of thee, who art infinitely more powerful than I, if you have brought the Ferryman any of the souls who passed from their mortal bodies in this city in the past day."

"_**I have not, yet, mortal. What business is it of yours?"**_

"I wish to buy back their lives with pain."

"_**The pain of those who will survive it is meaningless to me. If thou hath nothing of value to offer, than I shall leave."**_

"How many years of servitude is a human soul worth?" _'Specifically, a soul of one descended from Sparda,' _Shinji was really hoping Thanatos would be able to tell what made his soul valuable.

Thanatos leaned forward and carefully examined Shinji. _**"The return of a single soul would be of equal value to me as a thousand years of your servitude. Will you make this exchange for a single human?"**_

"I understand the price… I accept this contract; a thousand years of servitude to you once I have entered your dominion for every one of the souls of every person who died in this city for the past twenty-four hours." He was effectively selling his soul for over a million years in order to give life back to people who probably wouldn't be alive in twenty. And the people who believed they were in the right and intended to try and surpass God without understanding the nature of the Universe and just how much of a Bad Thing that would be. At the very least, it would at least shake their beliefs for a little while. And if that gave him even a single extra move to take, it would be worth it.

Death smiled; he'd have this boy serving him for millennia. _**"I Thanatos, son of the Night and the Darkness, accept this contract."**_ Death raised its sword and drove it through Shinji's chest.

* * *

Shinji ran through the street, alternately electrocuting, freezing, or simply crushing the skulls of any UN Summoners too stupid to drop their weapons and tubes and flee.

There were many corpses.

Then he heard the woman's scream from the alley as a Garm chased her down. Once she'd cleared the alley, Shinji slammed his Devil Bringer against the ground. Spikes of ice filled the alley, tearing the hellhound apart and blocking anyone who would try to move through.

Shinji ran to the young woman who'd fallen, trying to remember her name. "You're Credo's sister… Kyrie, right? What happened?"

The wide-eyed young woman calmed down a bit before telling him, "We were ambushed… Credo told us he'd hold them off… some of them caught up… Nero's-"

Shinji slammed his right arm against the ground again, a dome of ice rising around her. "You'll be safe in there. I'll be back in ten minutes." He ran down the alley she came from, shattering the spikes with a wave of his hand. _'Shit. If those two have gotten themselves killed, then I might just have to abandon this place altogether. Even if I can become stronger through their belief in me, they might've taken so many losses that they could become a burden instead of a blessing.'_

He saw Nero trying to hold off three sword-wielding summoners and a pair of demons, his sword in his left hand and his right hanging limp at his side. Nero back from a sweep of a Cu Sith's bite, blocking two blades with his oversized weapon, only to end up trapped against a wall as the last summoner and her Inugami came at him from his right side.

Shinji raised his hand and fired a bolt of lightning at the female summoner and her demon, obliterating both and giving Nero the chance to use his modified Red Queen to knock back the two remaining summoners, bisecting the Cu Sith before spinning around, driving his sword through one of his opponent's lung. He ducked beneath the last one's blade, tearing his sword out of the first one's chest and decapitating the last one.

Nero gritted his teeth as he began to continue out of the alley.

Shinji ran forward to help the injured teen. "Nero, what happened?"

The human shook Shinji's hand off his shoulder. "I don't have time to talk… Kyrie's-" he was cut off by the pain running through his bloody arm.

Shinji moved to help support the human's weight. "Calm down Nero, she's fine. I raised a dome over her back on the street. Now where's Credo?"

Nero tore off his sleeve and wrapped it around his arm to stop the bleeding. "Further down… he said he'd… hold'em off."

"Got it. Now just get to the street, break open the ice, and get her to Old Town; that's where everyone in the city should be heading. Once you're there, get someone to heal that arm and take command until I get there."

The injured human replied, "I'd have gotten her there anyway."

'_And that's why I'd leave these people in your hands.'_ Though he couldn't help but feel that it would take a few minutes for the human to realize what he'd agreed to do, Shinji ran to where Nero had come from as fast as his demon-powered legs would carry him.

* * *

Shinji struggled to stand as he wiped most of the blood from his face. "I've met the requirements. I'm a blood relative, I've performed a summoning, and I have three contracted demons. Unless you want me summon Yatagarasu here and now as well, I'll meet you in Dark Tokyo's Coliseum."

The still injured young man turned to leave. "Where do you think you're going, monster?"

Shinji looked back at Keel. "With the title of Minato Kuzunoha being contested, this council cannot make any decision that two of the Four Great Summoners could overrule." Shinji was speaking not as a human, nor as the schemer he had been before finding his resolve. He spoke with the authority of one who knew his place in the world, and would rise above it. "This meeting is over." He spoke to them as one who would rule over forces that these feeble old men couldn't imagine.

He knew the carnage that SEELE would bring to humanity.

He knew the carnage that demons would bring as well.

He could trust neither to end this endless cycle of hate and destruction.

They were nothing, things that would be drawn into nothingness and so sure of their superiority that they would drag humanity to its death, and claim to be the kings of the ensuing nothingness.

* * *

He hadn't arrived in time to help Credo.

But his corpse wasn't there either.

Shinji looked out at his ruined city and the corpses lining its streets as he clenched his demonic hand.

'_Even if I do think of abandoning them if they become liabilities, I couldn't. SEELE! Those bastards dare to come into _My_ city, kill _My_ people. They're monsters. They do all they can to persecute demons, but they're worse than most of them.'_

* * *

In the steel hallway, Shinji stared into the image of a cracked padlock on his left palm.

'_In this accursed state-_

_

* * *

__-Humans, Gods, and Devils alike-_

_

* * *

__-cannot salvage this twisted world-_

_

* * *

_

-created and maintained by Him.

_

* * *

_

So the only way to save it-

* * *

_-is to destroy the Almighty-_

* * *

_-and the world he created-_

_

* * *

__-and replace it._

* * *

Confused about anything? Leave a review.


	12. Liberation of Fortuna

Okay, the main concern in all three reviews last chapter was the two Shinjis thing. Rest assured, there is a legitimate line of reasoning that will make sense well after a Revolution. Anything more than that would be a spoiler, and I _really _couldn't have introduced the second one any later than now, otherwise it would be nearly impossible to explain when this one eventually gets to Tokyo-3 with about a third of the Order of the Sword, as well as everyone he'll pick up next chapter. As for individual reviews:

WiredJunkiee1100: DMC4 did not happen, nor will it happen. In the same way that canon Evangelion won't happen. Both Shinjis are Shinji Ikari, in the same way God was both the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. You certainly shouldn't feel bad about getting a little mixed up with everything, it'd be difficult to understand absolutely everything about this without enough knowledge of MegaTen to earn a degree in it, especially with how many different parts of MegaTen will end up involved in this story. Hell, Dante's had a member of the DDS group with him since DMC 3. Nero is there because I need a few named members of the Order that aren't complete OCs. Gloria is not Trish.

Deep Space Cowgirl: By becoming the new Minato Kuzunoha, Shinji will not need the backing of anyone but Naoto (Raidou) in order to make him immune to the Council law, and attempting force those laws on him anyway would piss off Yatagarasu and the rest of the Japanese Pantheon (Izanagi, Susano-O, Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi...). SEELE may be old and uncomprehending of the true nature of what they're dealing with, but they're smart enough to do what they can to avoid picking a fight with a third nation of demons. And about his Kuzunoha lineage, how do you think Yui was able to acquire the knowledge to make clones of the two beings that the Evas were created from and fuse her soul with one?

Terms used last chapter that some may not be familiar with:

YHVH: This is best summed up by a passage from the book of Exodus. "God spoke to Moses and said unto him, "I am YHVH. I revealed myself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, and did not allow them to know Me by My name YHVH." Shinji's reference to Him by this name is the most disrespectful of him that he can manage to be without simply ceasing to exist by His Divine Will.

Yeshua: Often considered the original name of Jesus of Nazareth, though Yehoshua is also possible.

* * *

Shinji walked down the hall to the ruined point they'd first come in through, Seta and Shirogane at either side. Souji asked, "So, you two are related?"

"Yes."

"Which makes you part Kuzunoha."

"That should be obvious."

"And where are we going?"

"I need to pick up something from my _other_ birthright."

Naoto took over the questioning. "Are you sure it's wise to challenge a Summoner on his level with only a week to recover?"

"If I tried to set a date any further off, it wouldn't have set his title as invalid and we'd have execution orders hanging over our heads."

The group continued until Souji asked, "Why didn't either of you tell the rest of us you were related?"

"I have at least one prophecy and two contracts with demons based on my blood, one contract because of my dick, one prophecy that I got thrown into for being in the wrong place at the right time, and the possibility of making an ally out of one of Sparda's descendants will make most of the demon nations open to negotiations. If I keep racking up contracts and prophecies at the rate I have in the past month, I'm worried I'll end up tearing my soul into more pieces than it's already in just to keep up." He allowed the two a moment to blink while wondering what he meant about his soul being in pieces before continuing, "Acknowledging the human half of my ancestors and any accompanying obligations and prophecies could bring in even more problems." _'Like the clan contract with Yatagarasu.'_ He pulled at his bangs in such a way as to make his resemblance to his father _slightly_ less noticeable. "Speaking of contracts; Naoto, if you'd be so kind as to let Alice out?"

Naoto's cheeks flushed slightly, she'd nearly forgotten about that. "How did you-"

"Alice and I sealed our contract in blood; you think I wouldn't know that she agreed to be shoved in there to keep SEELE from executing you on the spot?" He reached into her pocket and pulled out the tube he knew contained Alice, snapping it in half to negate Naoto's contract with her.

Alice rolled into a position on the floor to pop her right shoulder back into place, using it to untie her legs and other arm before standing and turning her skull with an audible crack. "Naoto, if we ever get ourselves into a situation where my survival depends on being stuffed into one of your bloody tubes again in order to sell a cover story, kill me."

"Well that's a fine hello." Shinji greeted her.

She looked at her surrogate brother and the only being she'd formed a true contract with for centuries. "Bite me."

"Well aren't you just a pleasure after waking up."

Alice glared at Shinji. "You think I could actually _sleep_ in that damn thing? Why don't we try shoving you in one of those damn tubes and see how well _you_ sleep!"

Naoto shot them both in their feet before they got too distracted.

Alice grimaced as the holes in her shoes and feet closed themselves up.

Shinji fell to the ground. "Damn it Naoto!" He shouted from the ground. "I can't grow back the skin over my thumb; you really think I can fix bullet holes right now?" She didn't answer him. "Seta, you have hundreds of Personae. Naoto, you have a dozen demons on you. One of you has to have a Dia ready."

Naoto pulled out a tube. "Yoshitsune!" The demon came out, shaking its head at what it knew Naoto would ask. Either it didn't have the skill or it didn't have the energy to use it. The Summoner sighed as she returned the demon and began fishing for another tube.

"Seta?"

The persona user was shuffling through his mind. _'Izanagi? No… Norn? No… Ooh, that'll work.'_ "Cybele!"

The missing pieces of Shinji's feet were restored as he stood. "Naoto?" he asked to be sure he was paying attention to him. "If you shoot me again without being sure that I can regenerate, I'm cutting off your trigger finger."

The group walked on in stunned silence before Naoto answered, "Try it and I'll shoot them off until they stop growing back."

Shinji and Souji both stopped moving as Alice smiled. "Why don't we talk more?"

The two males looked at each other, and an understanding look was passed between them.

They had bonded through their mutual fear.

As that thought entered his mind, Souji half expected time to stop around him as a Tarot card appeared in his mind. To his relief, it didn't happen. _'If I found out I had to bond with him to get any stronger…'_ He shook at the thought. It wasn't that he didn't like the kid, there were just times when he reminded him a little too much of another psycho he met once. But this psycho was a good one. Not even really evil, just not quite all there sometimes.

Shinji had a different thought. "Where's Rei?"

A door down the hall opened as a naked and sweaty man with long brown hair began trying to crawl out. Something seemed to grab his leg and drag him back into the room as he screamed, clawing at the floor.

Shinji sighed. "I'll go get her."

In ten minutes, Rei was appeased, wearing a NERV tech's shirt, Shigeru Aoba found religion in the form of the young man who saved him from said girl, and the group was on their way again.

As Rei raised her arms to stretch, Souji gained the unnecessary information that, just as the other blue-haired girl he knew, her carpet matched the drapes. _'Rise's gonna kill me for finding that out about a fourteen year old girl.'_

They eventually reached the cordoned off area of the base where the Persona Users and Alice had restrained Vergil.

The lone guard posted at the entrance shouted, "Hey! You're not authorized to go in there!"

Naoto and Souji showed fake ids, Rei undid a button on her shirt, and Shinji glared. In retrospect, maybe he shouldn't have looked directly into the poor gibbering lump of flesh's eyes. There were reasons demonic power was filtered out of the sight of humans lacking in Magnetite.

It tended to drive the unprepared insane. It also gave people ideas for freaky-ass stories.

If he woke up, the man would probably go on to create a rather popular manga.

Shinji leaned in and looked at the name-tag. "Fumino Hayashi… Sorry about that, but you really shouldn't have tried to keep me out."

Naoto took a breath to try explaining why he couldn't do things like that before Souji put his hand on her shoulder. "It'll just encourage him." Shinji did seem more apologetic than usual, considering that the guy worked for his Gendo _and_ got in his way while he was in a bad mood. And the man _was_ stupid enough to try and tell the guy who bound NERV's only functional Eva to his will, survived headshots, and generally raped human understanding of biology and physics at every turn where he could and couldn't go. And that was just what he could be expected to know about.

"That doesn't change that he just drove this man insane."

"He's got like four out of five odds of coming out alright." Naoto glared at him. "Well, _functional_."

Shinji went on ahead of the others as they argued, retrieving what he'd come for and placing it in his coat. He proceeded forward to examine the shaft Vergil had used to break in. _'Every one of the armored plates has a pretty big hole in it thanks to him, but nothing should be able to get in until they fix it thanks to Seta's Grydyne. It pulled the walls near the top too close together for anything but this rain to get through, and the fall straight down would shatter their legs if someone broke through the collapsed section. It should be fine until someone gets around to fixing it.'_ He looked at the damaged seal on his palm as he tried to perform an Air Trick.

The others came in to see him kneeling on the ground. Rei got there a couple of seconds before Alice. "Are you alright?" It was instinctual for a contracted demon to be concerned about their master; they depended on them for protection in exchange for whatever service they could provide. Without that protection, they were fair game for anyone or anything that could overpower them.

Shinji grumbled as he stood. "I just need some rest."

"Are you sure?" Alice asked.

He looked down and gave her a reassuring smile for Rei's benefit. "Don't worry about it." He was thinking clear, easy to read thoughts as he tapped his temple as a signal for Alice. _'I tried to draw Vergil's power out from the Seal to do an Air Trick. Instead, he started to slip out himself. The seal must have been damaged when it was forced open. It's too dangerous to try drawing out his power.'_

Alice was concerned by that. The reason the Seal was still working after all these years was because it was being powered by his own demonic power. He stole everything but his strength and some of his healing from Vergil.

'_If I can't draw on Vergil's power anymore because of damage to the seal, I should be able to finally access some of my own power that's been powering it.'_ He looked at his palm again._ 'I have one week to find out what kind of powers I can use that aren't being diverted to keeping Vergil locked up.'_ "I say we head home, get some rest." Shinji looked at Naoto and Souji. "Was there anyone else that came down here with you guys?"

Souji blinked twice before he took off running to the detainment cells. Once he'd reached them, he opened the doors for his friends' cells.

Yukiko stumbled out of one at the end of the hall, looking disoriented by the sudden light.

Kanji came out of the closest one, slowly, calmly, and cracking his knuckles. "Hey sempai…"

* * *

His arm at the ready, he ran through the city at speeds that wouldn't be possible for a human. _'There isn't a single survivor in this city. I've gotta get to Fortuna Castle before it falls.'_ If the fortress went down, then there would be nothing left to protect the surviving civilians except the walls of the Order's HQ, and they wouldn't last long if they brought out another demon at Seiryu's level.

He arrived at Old Town, an abandoned section of the city at the base of the mountain range. To his left, he saw the remains of a replica of the Hell Gate Sparda had built in the center of Fortuna. He took a quick headcount of the people in front of him, estimating about four hundred men, women, and children; the majority of them were injured in some way or another. Scattered among them, there were maybe half of the twenty-four men and women who had dedicated their lives to learning how to manipulate the magnetite flowing through their bodies to the necessary precision and power to heal others.

He saw Nero standing beside Kyrie as one of the healers tended to his arm. "Kyrie, stop worrying about it. Look, the arm's as good as new!" He lifted his oversized sword with the newly healed limb to prove his point.

"Stop waving that thing around like that, would you! You'll hurt someone." Scolding Nero for being reckless was the only thing keeping Kyrie from worrying about her older brother.

Shinji walked toward the two. "Nero, what's the situation?"

The human correctly interpreted demon's cold tone to mean he couldn't find Credo. "We've got four hundred and twenty-seven survivors total, including eleven of the thirteen healers that were in the city and eighty-three children. We have about twenty Order members capable of fighting."

"And the enemy?" the demon prompted.

"About fifty summoners, each of which likely has at least three low-level demons with them. They don't have any kind of conventional weapons with them though. It's almost like their commanders want us all to kill each other," he mused. It wouldn't be the first time the UN had sent summoners on suicide missions because they'd had something against them. Didn't like the way they looked, thought they might consider turning against them, disagreed with their political association… "As long as we receive assistance from our allies inside, we should win with minimal casualties."

Shinji stared at him with a disappointed look. "Are you an idiot?" Though Nero's willingness to argue against something he couldn't bring himself to support was one of the traits in him Shinji admired, he wasn't given the time to make an argument to defend himself as the demon continued. "You just said that they probably wanted us to wipe each other out, and here you are suggesting that we go with a plan that could get our people killed. Did you forget who the Hell I am!"

Nero was taken aback by the anger in his voice. "O-of course not!" He protested. "It's just that you just took down one of the Ssu-Ling, and several other summoners and their demons. I didn't know if you were still going to be able to fight at your best."

Shinji smirked at the answer he'd received. "I'm the only one that needs to be concerned over _my _physical condition. And besides," his smirk had changed into a genuine smile. "How could I expect anyone to follow me if I were unwilling to lead them into battle?"

* * *

After walking through the streets for about five minutes, Shinji's temper broke. Blame it on being the last thing to go wrong for him in a long and shitty day, part of him enjoying a big fight while he did nothing, or just a great personal dislike of being soaking wet outside of a shower, hot spring, or bed.

He looked up into the sky and shouted, "WHY THE HELL IS IT RAINING LIKE THIS!" before his mouth began to fill with rain, forcing him to look down. "There wasn't a damn cloud in the sky this morning, now it's raining too heavily to look up without risking drowning," he muttered. "And why the HELL are we out here?" He spun around with an accusing finger aimed at Naoto. "I don't care how shaken up he says he is, get the damn car out!"

The soaked woman pulled out the silver tube as she sighed. "Oboroguruma." Green light flowed from the tube, condensing on the street in the shape of a rather old automobile. Despite the car's protests of exhaustion, the group piled in, leaving it with no relief save that there weren't as many as last time. It's not like the poor thing was even having to do much work; with Naoto actually driving him, it was as close to being carried as a being with wheels could be without leaving the ground.

Of course, perfectly matching the rest of the day, there was a woman with a microphone standing beside a man with a camera over his shoulder when they arrived waiting right beside the door to the building Shinji was setting up as a base. Upon seeing the woman and recognizing her for what she was, Naoto had to resist the urge to slam her head against the wheel before her. Such an act would be juvenile, and unbefitting someone of her position.

The sound of the Oboroguruma's horn was heard through the street until Souji pulled her head back.

Shinji prayed to his grandfather, Izanagi, himself, and even offered a small prayer to Athena in hope that it might give him a bit of leeway should he ever encounter her. It wouldn't be a good idea to irritate the Goddess of Wisdom.

The woman came over.

Shinji's head dropped as he realized his prayers wouldn't be answered.

He was about to have to deal with the one thing he despised more than arrogant gods who disrespected their worshippers.

A reporter.

The microphone was in his face before Rei or Alice had left the interior of the demon. "Shoji Kurosaki, Jiji Press." It was oh so tempting to just kill her. "According to my sources, you have some knowledge of what happened here today." Shinji just shoved her out of his way and proceeded toward his door. The woman was unperturbed. "The people have a right to know!"

Ah, how he hated that line. "And I have a right to my privacy." Seeing the woman preparing to spout off some form of tirade he had no interest in hearing, he looked directly into another human being's eyes for the second time that day. However, it was with far less malice than the last one, causing a more hypnotic effect than mind breaking. "Leave this city. Never question the incident that occurred today. And most importantly, forget that you ever had even the slightest suspicion that I had any information that anyone might see as relevant."

The woman would have stood in place for hours after the group entered the building before moving had her cameraman not shaken her out of the trance she'd fallen into. Shoji calmly took the camera from the man's hands, placed it in the van, and drove straight to Tokyo-2 without looking back.

The poor, unnamed man ran like hell.

* * *

Nero rolled out of the way as a tree rose out of the snowy ground he was standing on, ducking behind the ruins of a stone wall. He reached to the holster hidden by his coat, withdrawing a six shot revolver, and blew out the brains of the summoner commanding the pair of Kodama that had been plaguing him. The forest spirits were snapped back into the pair of silver tubes in the dead man's belt as a part of the failsafe.

'_The bastards have it set up so they can't get free even if their masters die. What happens to the one's they don't find the tubes of?'_ Nero abandoned that train of thought as a fireball slammed into the stone beside his head. No time to muse over the fates of those demons while an Ukobach was chucking fire at him from a spoon.

Shinji smirked as a bullet narrowly missed his ear, instead going into the stomach of the young man to his left. Most members of the Order looked down on firearms, mainly because they were nearly impossible to use effectively against demons. But in a battle against summoners, they were far more effective than cutting pieces off the demons until they stopped growing back.

Shinji broke from his straight line of destruction as he dived at the injured man, destroying him as electricity flowed from his right palm into the man's neck. Poor guy was probably barely even in his twenties. He ducked beneath the swing of a Nekomata's claw and found himself narrowly avoiding a decapitation by a sword from behind.

The sword user was obscured from his view as he dodged a stream of flame coming from the cat-woman hybrid, which raised a wall of steam between him and the summoner. Though he knew the Nekomata was setting up some kind of trap, he couldn't risk taking his eyes off it, as evidenced by the blast of wind fired from the demon's open paw. As he spun out of the way, he saw a shadow moving behind the disturbed wall of steam right before a two-headed lion bound toward him, flames spewing from both mouths.

Shinji ducked beneath the steady streams, slamming his right hand between the two heads of the Orthrus as ice began to spread over it. His eyes widened in shock as the demon collapsed into a glowing sphere that flew away, tracing it to a black gauntlet on a rapier wielding woman's right arm. In a moment, he took in the full image of her.

She had short brown hair, dark skin indicative of either an oriental descent or a nice tan, though her eyes were covered by grey goggles that seemed to be connected by wires to the grey terminal attached to the strange glove on her left arm. She was obviously better at manipulating her Magnetite than the average summoner, indicated by the extremely light clothing option of jeans and a t-shirt while on a snowy mountain. The confident air she carried herself with gave the impression that she was familiar with demonic battles.

The woman charged with her thin blade raised, stabbing quickly enough to force Shinji to fall back while avoiding her blows, actually having his neck grazed in two separate stabs. _'She's almost as fast as I am!'_ he realized as he tried to distract her by raising spikes of ice out of the snow between them. A gust of wind from his right hand sent the stream of fire back at the Nekomata back at it, forcing the woman to return the demon to the weird thing on her arm in the same way as her Orthrus. "That's a nice trick…" The panting demon complimented. "You don't use the normal kuda, do you?" This woman was… interesting. As was the thing on her arm.

The woman relaxed her grip on her sword and held one finger over a button on the strange terminal. "No, I don't. I picked this thing up in Hell." Or at least something very close to it.

"That so? I'd heard rumors of a demon summoning program, but this is the first time I've ever seen it in use." _'Just keep her talking. She's probably their leader, and even if she isn't, that thing is worth playing nice for. Hell, I can always use someone with her skill.'_

The woman smirked. "That isn't all this COMP can do." Her left hand opened, palm facing Shinji, as she pushed a single button. "Megidola."

The destructive sphere flew from her hand with the speed of a gunshot, just barely giving Shinji the time to brace his right arm against it, a layer of demonic power over his Devil Bringer the only thing keeping the arm from being destroyed. With an audible grunt betraying the strain he was under, he knocked the Megidola into the sky, where it shouldn't cause any trouble unless a plane suddenly flew over. The exertion necessary to accomplish that had been enough to soak Shinji in his own sweat. "Nice… very nice…" There were thousands of _demons_ that wouldn't have been able to fire off something like that and stay standing.

Unfortunately for the summoner, her human body wasn't quite up to the standards of demons using that spell. The force behind it had put a severe strain on her arm, and it had really been a last resort. Trying to use it again could break every bone in her arm, if not kill her from the sheer strain the attack had on her Magnetite reserves. But still… she had her mission, and the thing standing before her was the main target. However, she was shocked by the question he asked her.

"Why are you fighting for the UN?"

"Why shouldn't I?" she answered. "If it weren't for their coordination, rogue summoners would have killed millions in the Resource Wars!" Though it was a legitimate explanation, even true to an extent, there was a slight trace of doubt in her voice.

Shinji scoffed at the answer he'd received. "Yeah, and Stalin fought the Nazis. Doesn't mean he's the kind of guy you should be swearing loyalty to." He saw the anger starting show on the uncovered portion of her face. He also noted that they were they only two still fighting. "You do know that they sent you here to die, right? Did they even give you a reason to lead these summoners to assault a small, peaceful town?"

The woman pushed the button on her COMP again. "Because you're a bunch of damn cultists," she spat out. There was a thin but steady trickle of blood flowing out her left ear.

'_She doesn't even know who they ordered her to attack. I can tell she doesn't approve of how things were going down in the city, but she still let it happen. They must have some kind of leverage.'_ He had no more time for thought as he ran forward, slamming his demonic fist into the glowing sphere before the woman could fire it. The two screamed in harmony as the force of the spell began to send cracks running along the nigh-indestructible scales covering Shinji's right arm and grinding the bones of the summoner's left arm into a fine powder.

* * *

Souji was roused from his position on the couch by a buzzing against his crotch. It took him a good thirty seconds to realize it was his phone, and another fifteen to pull it out and answer it. "What is it?" _'Who's the idiot that wants me to hunt down, make into a block of ice, then strengthen gravity around until they're slowly chipped down to dust?'_

"_Damn, you're certainly grouchy today."_ Why was Yosuke calling?

"Why are you calling me at…" _'What time is it?'_ He started looking around before he realized he wasn't in his bedroom. Or a hotel room. Or the spare room at the Dojima's. He checked the clock on his phone. "Two in the afternoon?"

"_I just thought you'd want to know that we found Rise and Teddie, and we slept at that kid's place. Where should we meet up?"_

Souji smiled at the good news. "I guess here's as good a place as any. There's enough room to fit a couple dozen people anyway." He gave Yosuke directions to the street. "Trust me, you'll know which one it is."

"_How?"_

"Because of the giant blue neon rose above the door."

"… _You're kidding me, right?"_

"Nope."

"_We'll be there in an hour."_

"Got it." He hung up. "Where the hell's the kitchen?" He stumbled through the ground floor until his feet hit tile. Looking around, he found himself distracted from his quest for food by Rei's bare chest. He mustered all his willpower and met her red eyes.

She stared back with a glint of mischief in them.

"Why are you naked?"

She put her finger on her lip as she pretended to think about her response. "Why not?"

It was too early in the morning to try and argue against such amazing logic. "Touché. Where're the others?"

"Alice and the Master are downstairs practicing. Naoto-san went to get food."

The more important of the two questions warring with each other in Souji's head won out. "Food?"

* * *

In Berlin-2, an unshaven man took a drag from his cigarette as he sat before his computer. "Kids these days, no sense of discretion at all."

He read the text that appeared on the screen without any prompting on his part.

"Yeah, go ahead. Couldn't be a good thing if this gets out." The man ran his free hand through his brown hair. "Little bastard better appreciate this."

* * *

Yosuke began, "This is just… weird."

Chie whacked him in the head. "You don't get to say anything is weird until the chicken bone comes out from behind your ear."

The group of Persona Users plus Rei looked at Yosuke and confirmed that, yes, the bone from his chicken leg had at some point been tucked behind his ear like a pencil. A slight giggle could be heard.

Souji's palm hit his forehead. "And now we've lost Yukiko."

Kanji was the first to actually address Yosuke's comment seriously. "Which part is weird? The bit about the kid here," he gestured at the still naked Rei, "being cloned from the other kid's mom and some major lust demon, that demon being locked under NERV to keep it away from God, or the part where we live or die based on the outcome of a fight between a fourteen year old boy and his grandfather?"

Yosuke sighed. "I was talking about the part where the media hasn't had a word to say about thousands of demons running through the streets, killing thousands of people, only for them to come back to life last night." The attention of everyone in the room was focused on him. "Am I the only one who checked the news today?" The way the others were looking at him told him that he was.

Naoto was the one speak up about it. "It's obvious that someone in the know has the contacts to manage to completely remove any visual evidence of the demons. Without proof, even the people themselves may eventually be convinced that there was some kind of hallucination induced by the NERV acknowledged Angels. As much as I'd like to find out who did this and why, there are more pressing concerns at the moment."

Teddie was the one to bring up the next subject. "You mean like what we're going to do with that Aida kid?"

"I guess it's as good a place to start as any." Rise answered.

Kanji gave a surprisingly callous answer. "I say we go take his computer thing and let him think he dreamed it all."

"The kid's smart, Kanji-kun. It'd only be temporary at best."

Chie'd been all for Kanji's idea until it was ruined with logic. "I guess you're right Yukiko."

"As long as he can keep his mouth shut for a week, we can leave him." The others looked at Souji with shock. "If Shinji wins in a week, he can deal with the kid personally. If not, then it won't really matter to us, now will it?" He sat with a satisfied look on his face until Rise got behind him with the lamp. "OW!"

"You're just being lazy and trying to pawn it off onto someone else!"

Souji rubbed the spot the metal pole hit his head. "So what? It's not like I'm trying to stick it with any of you."

Everyone present in the room ceased their objections. Kanji, Yosuke, and Teddie all simultaneously declared their support for Souji's idea, which met the agreement of everyone else in the room.

"Alright, now that that's settled, we should see what our chances of surviving to the end of the month are." Souji turned to Rei, who's nudity was slowly becoming easier to ignore. "You said those two were in the basement?"

* * *

Rei and the Persona Users arrived to see Shinji and Alice apparently doing all they could to kill each other. A steady stream of blue fire came from Shinji's palm, but Alice just ducked beneath it and ran her hand across his stomach. Shinji collapsed on the ground as his flames sputtered out, but Alice seemed quite refreshed from the assault.

As Rei went to check on Shinji, Souji couldn't help but give an impressed whistle as he asked Alice, "What the hell was that?"

The little girl gave a far too innocent smile for anyone's comfort. "That's just a little trick I like to call my Death Touch. If I can get my hands on my enemy, I can drain their own power and use it to heal myself."

Souji looked at the sweaty and bloody teenager before sighing to himself. _'We're screwed.'_

* * *

Devil Survivor reporter sent to Tokyo-2? Check.

Two additional unnamed characters of some signifigance? Check. Anyone care to guess who they are?


	13. The Wrathful Hand of Chaos

Sorry this chapter is so late. Short versian is, Shit Happened. Long version, over the past two weeks I have had to help build a robot, memorize a shitload of useless information on Iran, and learn to impersonate President Nixon while playing ping-pong (that's a long story). Then someone gave me the Divine Comedy.

Deep Space Cowgirl: Alice actually was giving Shinji much needed training. He needs to be able to control lightning and fire well enough to handle multiple opponents at a time. Devil Survivor is still a long time coming, I'm afraid. Rest assured though, I can count on one hand how many humans will be happy with the results when it finally does.

* * *

The woman had been unconscious for three days.

Shinji had needed to execute two members of the Order and imprison three civilians for attempting to assassinate her. After the fifth, he'd moved her into his personal apartment in the Order's HQ so he'd be able to keep an eye on her while managing the clusterfuck Fortuna had become._ 'It won't be long before they realize we've survived. We can't stay here for long. The fact that I'm keeping her alive as a prisoner wasn't exactly a popular decision either.'_

* * *

"_How can you just let her live!" the hooded man shouted. "She's the one who led those summoners against us! She was trying to kill us all! Trying to kill You even!"_

_Shinji leveled a glare at the stupid man just short of the required demonic power to reduce him to a mold of jelly. "And the skill she displayed makes her highly desirable as an ally."_

"_But Sir-" The man's protest was cut off._

"_Do not make me repeat myself Lombardi. If it is possible, we will make an ally of her." He smiled. "After all, my family has a long habit of making allies in strange ways. If she chooses to serve under me, you will not raise a word of protest."_

"_But she killed _so many _of our men!"_

"_And how many humans fell to Sparda's blade?" The question hung in the air like an offensive odor._

_Lombardi left without another word._

* * *

He had to admit, that device was impressive. It hadn't even had its screen cracked by the force that had nearly torn apart his own right arm.

Now if only he could figure out How. The Damn. Thing. Worked!

According to her ID, her name was Tamaki Satomi. Japanese native. Thirty-seven years old.

'_And a very capable Devil Summoner,'_ he reminded himself. One that was actually capable of using demonic abilities, to boot.

He noticed a slight stirring in her eyelids, and he picked up on the slightly elevated rate of breathing. "You can stop faking, Satomi-san."

The fact that she was being addressed in Japanese in an unknown location was what caused her eyes to snap open more than anything else.

She hissed in pain as her attempt to sit up disturbed her arm. "Where am I?"

"You're in my personal apartment, on the twenty-second floor of my HQ." Hearing the voice of the demon she'd been fighting before losing consciousness, she instinctively reached for her COMP before realizing it wasn't there. "Looking for this?" She turned to see Shinji holding up the black device in his human hand. Knowing she was unable to fight and alone with an enemy, the fear was finally beginning to take hold. Shinji was shaking his head, almost sympathetically. "The bastards didn't even tell you what exactly you were going up against, did they?"

She didn't answer him.

"Y'know, not answering my questions is only going to get you killed."

"So, you'll kill me if I don't give you the answers you want?" She didn't really seem to care what the answer was.

"Oh no, not at all! I'm the only one that's really doing anything to try and keep you alive. So," he pulled a chair over to the side of her bed to sit in, "why don't you tell me everything?"

"Why should I? It's not like there's anything some little cult would be able to do." _'Besides, getting you involved would just make things worse.'_

Shinji did an excellent job at looking offended at being thought of as a small time cult. "You'll never know unless you tell me, the one person trying to help you. Besides, I was strong enough to take you down."

Tamaki sighed, not expecting much to result, but there wasn't much else she could do at the moment.

"Looking back on it, I guess this all started just after my husband and I decided to take a vacation. Getting a license to perform summonings without joining the military took a lot of time, but the pay for private jobs is really good. With our living expenses, we only needed to take three or four jobs a year at most. I'm sure you've noticed how there seem to be more running around than usual lately, so we were getting a lot of jobs. Nothing too big, the worst we'd had to take care of was a small colony of Succubi, but we'd brought in more cash in the last two months than we had for the last three years.

We thought it would be a good opportunity to take a vacation, but things were going wrong from the start. Planes we tried to book flights on malfunctioned, and the ones we finally managed to get onto and into the air were always redirected midflight as far off as could be justified from our destination. Luggage disappeared with no explanation, but we didn't lose anything important; just clothes, toiletries, things like that. Still, it got annoying enough that Tadashi stayed at the hotel while I went out sightseeing. He was supposed to meet up with me at lunch.

That was the last time I saw him.

That was three months ago.

I spent a couple of weeks looking for him before I was approached by a pretty wrinkly old man going by Mr. K. He told me that if I led a group of Summoners against a dangerous cult picking up momentum in Italy, he'd give me access to UN resources to help me find him. I was desperate by that point. I agreed without asking any questions except when and where to strike. I didn't even bother finding out who we'd be fighting against.

I wasn't given very many soldiers, but it was supposed to have been enough if we drew the main defensive force out of the city."

Shinji interrupted Tamaki's story. "There were about ten summoners that got into the castle. That was your distraction." At her nod, he continued. "Several members of the Order who were stationed inside the building went MIA during the confusion, our chief alchemist Agnus them. Were they the inside men who helped those summoners enter the castle?"

"I didn't catch any names. What did this Agnus guy look like?"

"Big guy. Dark skin, monocle, hair pulled back in a ponytail, a slight speaking p-p-p-p-problem?"

Tamaki blinked. She'd heard the man stuttering on the exact same word. "Yeah, that's him."

Shinji's right arm began to glow as he clenched the hand. "Do you know where they were going if things went wrong?"

Tamaki sighed. "I can't say for sure where they are, but the attack was launched from Nuevo Firenze."

The demon smiled as he stood. "Thank you." _'That base is only 200 kilometers from here. It will only take our forces three hours if we hurry. Maybe the bastards will still be there.'_

* * *

Shinji stood as he slammed his fist through the table. "What the Hell do you mean you refuse to launch a full assault!" He looked down the table at the leader of the opposed majority. The seats of Agnus and Sanctus to his left were empty. Nero occupied Credo's seat directly to Shinji's right. The teenager was understandably concerned at being to the young demon's right while angry.

Gloria, a dark skinned woman with abnormally light hair and wearing a white outfit that would have better suited a prostitute than one of the leaders of a major group like the Order of the Sword, stood at the opposite end of the table. "We've suffered too many casualties in this battle; we can't afford to launch an attack in our condition. We have to stay here and fortify against another attack."

"You damn idiots… You're just going to abandon Credo and the others, let Agnus go free, and stay stagnant and die instead of moving forward, the way we have to in order to survive." No one bothered to say anything in response. "Fine. Stay here and die." He turned left the room, returning to his apartment as Nero stood.

* * *

Shinji began stuffing bags with things, tossing a small pill to Tamaki as he rushed through the apartment. "What's this thing?"

"Just swallow the damn Bead. You want to go get your husband back, don't you?"

Recognizing the small item for what it was, she consumed it and winced as the bones and muscle fibers began weaving themselves back together. "Why would you help me?"

"Because you're probably the only other person within a hundred miles stupid enough to come with me and attack a heavily fortified UN base." He wasn't really expecting much more than one other person attacking at best, certainly no cooperation between them.

"Shouldn't a demon have more control over its followers?"

Shinji stopped in his rush to pack bags of arcane items. "I do not control these people. They followed me of their own will because of my father Vergil, the eldest son of the Dark Knight Sparda. They refuse to follow my orders, but I will not commit genocide of the only group to worship the hero who prevented this world from being destroyed in a war against YHVH that could not be won."

He tossed her one of the bags of healing and destructive items with her COMP. "You're just giving me this?"

"Why shouldn't I? Our goals happen to coincide at the moment, and I figure that even if you won't work with me, you aren't going to help those bastards again." He walked to his door, holding it open instead of closing it once he was through. "So… You need a lift?"

* * *

A little brown squirrel looked out of the bushes at the strange dark strip. There! On the far side. There was a beautiful acorn, sitting undisturbed. It was large enough to provide him with a delicious meal. It was truly glorious, not even the slightest flaw in the exterior from its fall from the tree, almost as if placed there for this little squirrel by God Himself. Oh, he was eating well tonight.

Familiar with the metal things that sped along the dark strip, the small creature looked around; searching with both its eyes and ears for any indication that something was approaching. Confident that he would be safe, the furry creature dashed across the road to claim his prize…

And was reduced to a red paste with an audible crunch.

The motorcycle's helmetless driver grinned. _'Gotcha.'_

"Shouldn't this be making more noise?" Though Tamaki barely spoke above a whisper over Shinji's shoulder, he was able to hear her quite clearly.

He turned back with a grin. "It's special." Knowing that it was a pathetic excuse, he elaborated. "You notice the way the accelerator glows?" He used his left hand to gesture to the red accelerator, the only part of the motorcycle that wasn't a deep black. "It's taking in power from my arm to up the noise to such a high pitch that even I, for all my enhanced senses, can't hear it."

Tamaki whistled from her position behind him. "Where'd you pick that up?"

"Didn't, got drunk in a garage one night and woke up with the thing attached to this bike."

"You made a motorcycle nearly soundless while drunk?" Tamaki asked in disbelief.

"Yep. Made myself a promise then and there that I wouldn't screw around with machinery unless I was sober ever again. I still don't know how the Hell this thing works."

"So we're riding a magic piece of technology without any real understanding of how it works?"

Shinji paused to consider that. "Yes. Yes we are."

* * *

Nuevo Firenze, or New Florence, was founded in 2003 as a military base. However, with the number of people displaced by the rising sea levels after Second Impact, it eventually grew into a large city, being made the new Italian Capitol in 2009. Unknown to the general population though, the base was the site of the largest demon research facility in Western Europe.

Fortunately, the civilian population was kept a good distance away from the base.

Something Shinji and Tamaki appreciated as they lined one of the larger buildings with red and green rocks. Well, Tamaki did. "I'm not so sure about this."

Black and red eyes met her own as Shinji finished placing an onyx stone with a red plate attached to one side against the ground. "If you've got a better idea, I'd like to hear it. We have the entire structure of the building surrounded by Agidyne stones aimed straight down to destroy the support of the building and Zanma stones set up between each of them to make sure that the fire is spread out far enough away that it'll take at least half an hour for anyone to even reach the building. Hell, this won't even affect any of the ordinary soldiers." Sure, none of the normal human soldiers will be injured, but the guards will have some explaining to do.

"I'm just not… used to fighting humans."

"If you're looking for someone to comfort you about the morality involved with killing an enemy soldier, especially devil summoning soldiers like the one's the UN tend to require undergoing rituals that mutilate their souls, you're talking to the wrong Shadow. I do know that we can either do this, or give people that shouldn't get involved with this anyway a chance to either run or, more likely, die at the hand of something they won't even see." The line around the building completed without notice in the night, Shinji stood up. "Well, it's do or die time now." He pulled a small mirror out of his pocket and threw it at the ground between him and the human woman, feeling the protective bubble envelop them before snapping the fingers of his right hand.

* * *

A young, obviously malnourished, boy sat up in his cot as the last remains of his white cotton shirt fell apart, revealing a taut layer of skin over his clearly defined muscles. Unfortunately, any but the most cursory glance revealed that this was not due to any particular strength in the muscles, but a lack of sustenence that had gone on long enough for his body to burn through almost every ounce of fat in his body. Judging by his size, the boy appeared to be around twelve years old; though, given his malnourished state, he could have easily been fifteen years old. With the near-dead look in the pale eyes behind his shaggy grey hair, it was easy to believe he'd been in this location for years.

The young man looked around his Spartan cell, devoid of any windows and plumbing, eyes passing over the bucket for any waste produced, and the much smaller panel in the completely sealed door that he just barely remembered from the day of his arrival to contain a tunnel spanning twenty meters and capable of being filled with enough cyanide to kill an elephant in a second.

And still, even if he was in perfect shape, and capable of crossing twenty meters in less than a second or without air, he'd be stopped short at the damn thirty-centimeter thick vault door at the other end.

Still, with whatever was set off with enough force for him to sense this far underground, he might be able to finally escape.

The boy wasn't stupid, there were maybe half a dozen humans who knew he was even still in existence in any form, and only one or maybe two entities that knew exactly where he was, but if something this powerful hit the base in the right place, there wouldn't be any way to feed the gas into the chamber. Then the only problem would be the damn vault door.

Of course, the issue was rendered moot as what little energy he had managed to gather faded and he collapsed to the steel floor; still conscious, but unable to move anything but his eyes.

* * *

The first mutt in the pack of hellhounds lunged at Shinji, only to find its neck locked in an iron grip while being used as a bludgeon against its brethren.

"Tch. This is pathetic. If your going to bother breeding things like this, have the decency to make them smart enough not to make a head on rush at something stronger and faster."

A figure approached from behind him, his scent and the sound of his footsteps covered by the flames remaining from a couple of demons' broken bodies. Shinji only noticed the larger man when the small, winged creature on his shoulder dove forward, wings snapping shut into the shape of a sword that was run through his back. "I'll be sure to remember that for the next b-b-batch."

* * *

As Tamaki ran her sword through a Mephisto's skull, she couldn't help wondering what was going on. This was the eighth demon she'd come across, but there hadn't been a single human.

As the cloak of the dead demon faded into nothing, she saw a Nekomata rapidly approaching, claws raised to strike at anything interrupting its mad rush. The push of a button caused a layer of ice to appear on the ground beneath the approaching cat-spirit, which reacted by jumping into the air and delivering a spinning kick the summoner was forced to duck under. Her back to icy ground she wouldn't be able to balance on, Tamaki had to move aggressively, moving forward with a flurry of stabs that forced the demon back, though it avoided every strike. Upon reaching the conclusion that she wasn't fast enough to strike the demon, she summoned her own as the enemy leapt back in preparation to attack.

"Neko!" Her own Nekomata dove forward, delivering a strike that knocked the enemy's face in the direction of the wall just as the flames that had been gathering were released.

The now-outnumbered demon flipped further away from the new arrival before her head tilted in recognition. "Mungojerrie?"

"Rumpelteazer?"

'_Neko has a name?'_

* * *

Shinji blindly shot out a spectral hand from his right arm, grabbing nothing but air, as he struggled to free himself of the demon-weapon hybrid pinning him against the wall. Trying to grasp the hilt of the blade so he could work it out, he gave up upon the realization that the blade was much longer than his arm. "I see you got those Gladii up to the size you wanted," he grunted out.

Standing at the end of the blade with a rubber-gloved hand wrapped around the hilt of the demon, Agnus smirked. "Yes I have, boy. SEELE places far less limitations on my research than you fools did. You were all so opposed to my Gladii, and my basilisks, and my Cutlasses; but they encourage it." Shinji stopped struggling and slumped forward, his body preventing Agnus from seeing his hands beings placed along the sides of Agnus's creation. "Giving up so soon?" he taunted.

"I actually… have another piece… of research data… for you," he rasped with his remaining lung.

Always eager for more data, Agnus gripped his creation tighter in his hand in anticipation. "And what would that be?"

"Those rubber… gloves of yours… can't insulate… _Ziodyne!_" he shouted. Blue sparks flowed from his arms, running back up the blade, picking up additional charge while passing through his chest, and reaching Agnus with enough power to shred everything beneath the large man's right elbow.

The man screamed in pain and fell back as Shinji backed away from the wall, allowing the Gladius to pass the rest of the way through his body, pulling his left lung out with it. He slumped to the floor as Agnus struggled to stand. His face twisted in a mix of pain and relief before he stood.

"I _hate_ regenerating my heart," he grumbled as his heart began pumping blood once again. "Do you have any idea what its like not to have a heart? Well, the physical heart. It's pretty obvious that don't possess even the slightest spiritual, emotional, metaphorical heart." A little bit spurted out and hit Agnus in the face before Shinji's chest closed up. "Damn, my body doesn't like you any more than my mind." He walked toward the kneeling man and knocked him down the hall with a haymaker. "Oooohhhhhhh, you have _no_ idea how long I've wanted to do that."

There was an audible crunch as something about the size of his head smashed into his face with enough force to break his neck. He repositioned his head as he saw the cannon sitting in the crater in front of Agnus.

"I _hate_ alchemists."

* * *

"So this place is, among other foul things, killing humans and demons to create a blood based sphere that allows normal humans with no natural talent for Magnetite usage to reshape physical objects by deconstructing their base materials and reshaping it to a form they desire?"

The Nekomata leading them, Rumpelteazer according to her Nekomata who failed to introduce herself for the past couple of decades, replied with a short, "Yes."

"And I suppose the project leader is a Doctor Marcoh?"

"How'd you know?" Rumpelteazer asked in shock.

Tamaki slapped her palm against her forehead. "That's it. I declare shenanigans. Someone get me a broom."

* * *

Shinji tore a wall out of his way with Garudyne as the floor in front of him turned into a shotgun. While he was in the doorway he'd created, he saw the red bead connecting Agnus's monocle to the chain glow as the alchemist placed his remaining arm against the wall.

The wall closed back up, nearly taking Shinji's legs off as it did so.

A new hole appeared in another section of the wall revealing Agnus as spikes shot out of the floor. Shinji spun out of the path of the first three, and ditched his open red jacket as the fourth spike dragged it to be pinned against the ceiling.

That red gem started glowing again.

"_Zio!"_ Agnus moved his head to the right.

Just slowly enough for the much smaller, but easier to aim, lightning bolt to pierce the red stone, knocking it away even as it collapsed into dust.

Agnus held his hand to the spot where his precious stone had been, staring at Shinji with shock. "No… _No! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"_ He began backing up to an open elevator shaft, labeled 'Out of Order'.

Shinji smirked at the traitor's distress. "Sorry. Was that important?"

The alchemist removed his remaining hand from his face, revealing a red, prism-like eye as he roared, his open palm facing Shinji. Three blades began moving along the floor and walls, almost like the fin of a shark in water. An arm made of energy flew forward, pulling one of them into his hand just as the other two arrived. His actual hand gripping the blade, he ripped the creature out of the ground, swinging it in a circle around him to tear the other two out, their own blades stuck in the body of the giant fish in Shinji's hand.

Without missing a beat, the boy threw the writhing mass at Agnus.

The alchemist fell back into the elevator shaft. A moment later, Shinji could hear the buzzing of an insect's wings. Running forward, he saw the silhouette of something vaguely humanoid flying down the shaft. He took a few steps back. "I just knew it was gonna be one of those _days!" _He shouted as he dove down the shaft.

* * *

Tadashi Satomi struggled, trying to do whatever he could to get any of his bonds off; the blindfold, the gag, the straps around his wrists, ankles, knees, chest, stomach, thighs, biceps, and forehead… any would have been welcome. The only thing he knew about his location was that he was strapped to some kind of metal trolley, which he knew had been moved since he was tied down to it.

But the Latin chanting from five separate voices arranged around him in a pentagram couldn't possibly have been good.

The five men around him were all wearing black, hooded robes, and each was standing over an incapacitated demon with a silver knife in hand.

* * *

Just outside the chamber, the three guards were playing poker. "Full House, Jacks over eights."

The man sitting next to him smirked. "Straight Flush."

The last man, and only one to actually be facing down the hall, looked up and said, "Shit."

* * *

The door to their chamber being knocked off its hinges would not have necessarily interrupted their ritual.

The rapier-wielding woman and her two Nekomatas made completion of the ritual impossible as the blood of the psychopaths covered their circle, making it useless for anyone.

Mungojerrie walked over to the edge of the room and picked up four white tubes, which she began to place Tadashi's incapacitated demons into. Tamaki and Rumpelteazer began to work on removing the man's bonds. He blinked as a sudden burst of light hit his eyes, until they adjusted well enough to recognize his wife.

"You're alright." He'd been worried about her for the last few months than he'd been for himself.

"Of course I'm alright." She smiled at him. "Baka," she added as an afterthought.

Their reunion was interrupted as Rumpelteazer said, "Alright, I'm sure you two are glad to see each other and all, but can we just cut him loose and get the hell out of here?"

That was the more sensible course of action. Tamaki nodded and gave the Nekomata clearance to cut through the ropes.

The demon's claws broke off just trying to remove the one keeping the man's head against the metal tray.

"I have another suggestion."

Tadashi knew he wouldn't like what Mungojerrie was about to suggest.

* * *

Shinji looked down into the dark shaft he'd dove into, eyes widening in revulsion as he saw the monster Agnus had become. The combination of an increased body mass and burst of demonic power had torn all but a few scraps of clothing from his body, exposing the white hairs running along the majority of his locust-like body. From his head, a pair of horns extended in the direction of his chin, and a white halo had formed directly above them.

'_He threw away his humanity for _This_!' _If his actions were any indicator, Agnus was beginning to lose control of the demonic power he'd forced into his body, as evidenced by the slow transformation and diminished mental faculties. If he escaped, the monster would go on to slaughter anything in his path until it was put down, without any regard for stealth.

The bug-man looked up at the freefalling demon and extended his hands, sending several living blades to strike him.

A Garudyne to Shinji's left destroyed the Cutlass, the recoil moving him far enough to his right to grab a Gladius as it flew past, and going on to swing it with enough force to knock a second out of its flight. One living sword in each hand, Shinji began spinning in midair, picking up enough speed to wipe out all approaching enemies as Agnus began moving down faster.

Still spinning, Shinji sent a burst of pure demonic energy out through his feet, creating a platform he used to kick off from, increasing his speed as he threw the remaining to Gladii straight down, piercing the buzzing wings of the fleeing demon and forcing it straight down until slamming against the ground of the very bottom floor of the facility. Shinji followed a moment after, running a spike of ice through the monsters chest.

Shinji jumped back into the air, sending a Ziodyne into the spike, and following it with a Garudyne upon landing that blasted Agnus through the doors into the large waiting room for those preparing to enter what appeared to be a decontamination chamber; much like would be expected in a facility performing major experiments involving highly lethal and infectious diseases.

Hopefully, Agnus would be dead by the time the fight moved on far enough to breach any containment areas.

* * *

A bruised and beaten man with long brown hair looked up from his position hanging from the wall by his wrists as he heard a girly shriek, followed moments later by two meaty thuds, accompanied by the moaning voice of one of the two guards he knew to be stationed outside his cell. The man had just enough time to wonder what was happening when a Nekomata broke down the door.

The demon laughed as she cut through the chains. "I told you I smelled people down here!"

A second Nekomata answered from the door, "Yes, yes, we get it Rumpelteazer; you were right and I was wrong."

A brunette woman poked her head through the doorway. "Hi, I'm Tamaki. We're going to tear this place apart and free all the prisoners. You want in?"

"It will be a pleasure." Quickly adjusting to the situation, the man walked outside and picked up the broadsword of one of his guards, swinging it a few times to adjust to the balance. "My name is Credo, I am the Commander of the Order of the Sword." He then noticed Tadashi, still strapped to the gurney. He said nothing of it when he saw how heavily bonded the man was, assuming he was either a potential threat or bound too securely to risk remaining in one location long enough to free him. "There are several more prisoners and experiments deemed 'dangerous' three floors down. The most effective paths would either be to find an elevator and try to bypass the security codes, or go down these stairs."

Tadashi began struggling as his wife began carting him toward the stairs. "This is BULLSHIT! He gets to walk on his own!" The other four ignored his protest as they started down the stairs. "WORST! RESCUE! _EVER!_"

* * *

'_In retrospect,'_ Shinji thought as he rolled out of a fireball's path, _'maybe I should have left him pinned in the elevator and kept tearing things out.'_ He and the monster Agnus became had torn through at least three decontamination chambers, wrecked half a dozen suites of labs, and were probably breathing something highly toxic. Feeling a strange sensation in his throat and nostrils, Shinji looked at one of the larger broken bottles as he ducked beneath a flying sword. _'DAMNIT! This is fucking mustard gas!'_

He wasn't given time to properly react to that as the beast dived forward, wrapping a talon-like hand around his neck. Green energy began to flow into Agnus's hand and into his body as Shinji's regeneration began to slow.

'_What the hell? I feel… weak.'_ As the burns of the mustard gas began to increase in pain and longevity, he realized what was happening. _'He's… draining me…'_

The tunnel vision was beginning to set in when he threw a combination of Agidyne and Magarudyne into Agnus's arm, creating and explosion that destroyed the limb and threw Shinji through the only wall remaining, something far more painful when the bruises don't instantly heal themselves. Crawling to the hole, Shinji used a Mabufudyne to create a wall of ice too thick for Agnus to break down with ease.

The teen struggled to his feet and reached into his coat for the bag…

That he could see on the ground on the other side of the wall he made.

'_Shit… gotta find… some way to… power myself back up.'_

He began limping down a hall, one that ended at a door saying **DO NOT ENTER** with a sweeper for an access card. _'I'll have to fry the system.'_ He placed his Devil Bringer against the panel, sending the most powerful lightning spell he could into the panel.

It was just enough to open the door.

Looking into the room, he saw a long cylinder that seemed to be taking an input from the far end of the room and churning out electricity. He followed the cylinder to the end, staring into the small black and grey box with yellow lines actively shooting across the surface and, occasionally, flowing onto the floor.

As a handle on top of the box arose, he recognized the thing as having taken the form of a briefcase as the silver face that seemed to be a part of the side stared back with glowing eyes.

And though a currently repressed part of his mind recognized that this unholy abomination to everything any society had ever held sacred must be somehow significant to this facility, only one true thought passed through his head.

'_Hell. Yes.'_

* * *

The trip down had been met with very little resistance. Sure, they'd run into a trio of Mephistos, but they weren't coordinated enough for the invulnerability granted by their cloaks to be an issue.

Then that giant white bug thing showed up, and things just went to hell.

With a flash of its glowing eye, the beast seemed to take control of the demons in the area, which began gathering in the steel hall and forcing Tamaki's group further down. The creature was too fast for Tamaki to keep up with, and all the demons she could handle the strain of summoning were busy keeping the lesser demons away from Tadashi.

Credo caught the pincer that was once Agnus's hand with his blade as the beast rushed at Tamaki. _"RUN!"_ He ducked beneath a sweep of the demon's other arm and jumped back as a Gladius attempted to impale him. "Find the prisoners! Get them out of here!" Credo drove his sword through the demon's left thigh. "I'll buy you as much time as I can."

Tamaki got a lucky hit and bypassed her enemy's cloak, driving her thin weapon through its head. "You'll be _slaughtered_!"

Credo smirked. "I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve. Now _GO!_" Tamaki did as the man ordered, grabbing her husband's cart and dragging him with her further down the hall.

Credo stood alone before the small door the humans and allied demons had fled through. He looked at the room's remaining occupants: three demons wearing black cloaks and hats that could only be injured with a strike to the skull, a swarm of flying swords, and what he recognized to be the form Agnus took after undergoing the Ascension Ceremony that the alchemist had concocted along with Sanctus.

Depending on how much of Agnus's thought process was still intact, he'd be able to buy a ten minute head start.

This would be a worthy retribution.

Credo leaned slightly to his left and grabbed the Gladius that attempted to remove his arm, using it to cleave through one of its kin as a Mephisto extended a bony hand, all five finger tips glowing red and facing the man. Credo spun to his right to evade the glowing red lances sent to impale him and ducked beneath one of Agnus's fireballs, using the momentum to fling the sword into the Mephisto's still extended hand with enough force to reduce the bone to dust.

Seeing that a long range assault would be ineffective, the remaining two Mephisto's swooped down from above, each sending a set of lances through one of Credo's lungs. Sensing easy prey, the Gladii and remaining Mephisto swarmed the body suspended only by the Mephistos' weapons, a scene which was quickly reduced to Agnus watching a writhing mass of blood, metal, and bone.

The observing beast was able to make out a slight hum as a white light began to glow from the center of the mass, a hum that grew louder as the glow grew brighter, culminating in a few seconds with a blinding burst of energy that disintegrated the demons that had been consuming Credo. But when the light subsided, the being standing in his place was not Credo.

The figure had two sets of horns, one set beginning at his temples and protruding outward, and another starting a few centimeters higher on its head, starting from atop the white beaklike helmet that appeared attached to the beings skull; but even without these horns, the being would stand a clear foot above the average man.

As its left leg moved back, the golden talon it held instead of a foot scraped against the floor, though the creature did not stop moving its purple leg in response to the screeching sound. The white hair covering his body parted around a dark shell over his chest and abdomen, though several glowing cracks along it cast a purple color along it. The same phenomena occurred along his face, the bottom of his tail, and along his entire right arm past the elbow.

The one wing on his body, extended from his left shoulder, was white only where it was directly attached to his body, from which extended a single line of golden feathers.

Though there was only one wing on his body, the glowing purple shield his arm changed into at the bicep might have been mistaken for a second at a distance.

The demon extended its right arm at what had once been Agnus in a mocking 'come on' gesture.

Though no longer able to interpret what the sign meant, Agnus had overcome his bewilderment and ran forward, left arm ready to decapitate the being before him.

The claw-tipped limb was knocked away as Credo pushed his shield forward to meet it before rising above with a single weep of his one wing, and remaining suspended in the sky without any apparent effort. He raised his hand above his head, tightening his fingers into a ball as a golden lance formed, gaining a more solid form as he threw it at Agnus, who just barely dodged as it jumped back and took to the air.

The light coming from Agnus's glowing eye strengthened in intensity as it raised its arms, calling forth all of the Gladii remaining in the facility. He grabbed one of the dozens circling the two former humans, forcing it into its form as a weapon rather than a flying creature, and flew as quickly as he could toward Credo.

The one winged angel merely raised his clenched hand in front of his chest.

A golden light flashed, blinding Agnus as the golden sword Credo created and used to rend through the steel of the Gladius, moving further along past the dying demon until Agnus's own right arm was in two pieces past his elbow.

Agnus screeched as he drove his remaining arm forward, digging into Credo's white hairy neck, using the same draining ability he'd used on Shinji earlier to weaken his new foe.

As Agnus pushed the weakened Credo away to fall into the storm of thrashing metal, five of the Gladii screamed in pain as what would best be described as a giant boomerang with three curved blades (making a perfect circle) tore through them and continued on to cut Agnus's newly regenerated right arm clean from his body.

As the bloodied limb fell to the ground, the young man who threw the weapon moved his right hand to the left, and the boomerang responded by changing its path in the air to kill another six Gladii before circling back around, cutting off Agnus's head, then, upon receiving new instructions, beginning to move in a tighter and tighter circle until the being once known as Agnus was nothing more than an oozing red pile of organs and bones surrounded by pieces of steel.

The boomerang returned to an outstretched glowing hand, and reverted to its basic form of a briefcase as Shinji lowered his right arm. With rage visible on his face, Shinji approached the kneeling form of Credo.

Credo's voice was surprisingly undistorted given his transformation. "My Lord-" Though he was given little chance to use it as Shinji slammed the briefcase in his hand against Credo's jaw.

"_What is wrong with you! I had my suspicions about your loyalty, but I felt you were at least decent enough to retain your humanity! But no, you went along with that sociopath Sanctus instead of informing me of the details of his betrayal."_ Shinji shifted his briefcase into his left hand and planted his right hand against Credo's face. **"You, whom hath dared defy mine one and only Commandment by forsaking thine eternal soul…**

**DIE**


	14. The Blaze of Ambition

And we're back. Well, I say 'we' because I think it sounds better, but it's still just me.

WiredJunkiee1100: Yes, Devil Survivor is an excellent game on the DS. And Shinji? Bad? Well, if you want to look at it in black and white, yeah. But keep in mind that even YHVH isn't a good guy here. And compared to some of the things out there (Nyarlathotep, Lucifer, Cain, and SEELE being worthy examples) Shinji's a relatively light grey. He's willing to get his hands as dirty as he has to though. But if you want a genuine hero, you'll have to wait for the guy that killed God to show up.

Deep Space Cowgirl: As of now, FMA: Brotherhood is officially one of the universes predating the current one. Crap like Truth and Philosopher's Stones are now a part of this story's canon. But don't expect any characters (well, none that were still around by the end) to be making an appearance. And yes it is, though Shinji found a… different method of dealing with his Shadow. And remember, DMC 3 and 1 are the only ones considered canon to this story, though elements of 4 (Order of the Sword, Pandora, Fortuna) are present. And for your willingness to persevere, I give you a quote from Day Six. "I'm gonna to do whatever I damn well please." Care to guess who?

* * *

Shinji looked at the dozens of papers showing equations, diagrams, basic compositions, the layout of the battlefield, and a dossier on his grandfather that covered most of his desk.

Then he looked at the disassembled _kuda_ Naoto had given him.

He smiled.

'_This could work.'_

* * *

In Europe, Shinji grinned with pride at his new second in command.

Nero had managed to rally more than a third of the city's surviving population and most of the Order, stormed the base without injuring any of the soldiers who had been unaware of the true nature of the facility, and retrieved Shinji, Tamaki, Tadashi, their demons, and most of the prisoners.

Now? The 'defectors' had managed to acquire enough vehicles to transport the nine hundred people, well, not comfortably, but they had room enough to spare that important individuals like themselves had been able to convert entire vehicles into mobile offices without worry of complaint from anyone.

But even this wasn't why Shinji was grinning. Nero's belt now had a small leather holster with six small white tubes within it, none of which were really any larger than an average pen. He'd broken down the Order's oldest taboo without a second thought, and managed to persuade most of the others to do the same.

Nero had managed to convince the demon slaying force to ally themselves with ordinary demons, something Shinji had been trying and failing to do for years.

The young monster kept his grin as he put his arm around the shoulder of the young man whose adopted brother-father hybrid he'd killed only two days before. "I guess it's about time we see who we busted out, eh?"

* * *

If the slightest problem with his body didn't heal itself as soon as it came up, the young man sitting at his desk would have bloodshot eyes and dark circles under them. As it was, he just yawned before finishing a can of Mad Bull. As the caffeine gave him a needed pick-me-up, he smiled at the modifications he'd made to the two _kuda_ in front of him. He really hoped he wouldn't need to use them, but if worst came to worst…

Two strong beats against his door came before Seta's muffled voice came through. "Get your ass moving Ikari! And for the love of Izanagi, tell your girlfriend to at least put on a robe before we leave!"

* * *

Captain Misato Katsuragi pulled on a pair of denim shorts before stumbling to her front door. She forced it open to begin yelling at whoever was waking her at the ungodly hour of 11 o'clock and paused as her half asleep-half hung over brain registered what she was seeing. A brown haired man with two knives on his belt, a blue haired woman wearing a cap who had a bust line easily comparable to her own, and what appeared to be… the bastard child of a panda, egg, and clown.

None of them seemed any more pleased at the situation than she did; though there was a chance it was due to the rain instead of her attempts to ignore them for the past twenty minutes.

Raidou Kuzunoha XIX said, "Captain Misato Katsuragi; depending on how cooperative you are, you are either being kidnapped or escorted to the trial by combat of Lord Shinji Ikari I, Raidou Kuzunoha XIX, Lieutenant Souji Seta, and civilians Kanji Tatsumi, Yosuke Hanamura, Yukiko Amagi, Rise Kujikawa, and Chie Satonaka." She looked at the woman's rather… relaxed attire, and asked, "Would you like a few minutes to change?"

* * *

In the end, the only preparation Misato needed was a can of her precious beer to wake her up. It would have only been a ten minute walk from her apartment to Shinji's home/office/base, but the summoner still summoned Oboroguruma for a ride, the hell with witnesses.

Misato followed her 'escort' through the building to find Shinji wearing a black coat in the style once favored by his father with a blue rose embroidered on the back.

In Kanji's defense, it had been a very boring week.

Misato entered with a confused look on her face as she followed the other three into the room, not noticing as she crossed over a circle of runes chalked onto the floor. She rubbed her eyes to be sure of where she was before saying, "Ignoring the fact that I was dragged here without warning by…" she trailed off as she gestured to Teddie. "I thought this was a trial."

As the others gathered into the circle as previously instructed, Shinji turned with a flourish. "Yes, that's where we're going!"

Raidou looked at her cousin. "Well, I suppose it's good to see you so confident about this. Are you sure you don't want to borrow a couple of-"

"No." Alice echoed Shinji's protest before the young man continued, "We both know that I can only use demons I've contracted in this fight. That limits me to Alice, Rei, and Karina. Karina's psyche is based off of my mother, so they could attempt to argue that I was receiving aid from a fellow human. Rei's out for the same reason. That just leaves Alice, and I'm not going to even try shoving her into one of these." He held up one of the two _kuda _he'd spent the night modifying. "Besides, they wouldn't even take a Pixie in anymore. And since we have to start the fight without anything summoned, I can't bring her into the fight unless I use the more traditional methods of summoning."

Misato stored the statement about 'Karina', resolving to ask someone who was at least able to pretend to understand the Evangelions about it later.

"And I doubt the old man will be generous enough to give you time to draw an array." Alice added.

Kanji asked the question about a third of the people in the room were wondering. "Uh, how exactly are we supposed to get to this... Dark Tokyo?"

Souji and Naoto allowed Shinji to handle the explanation. The teen had the widest smile Alice had seen since Cheshire as he squatted with his palms flat against the ground. "Well, it's really just a simple matter of tearing open a hole in the universe."

The uninformed had just enough time to think _'What'_ before reality within the circle fell apart.

* * *

"Thank you, and welcome to the good fight." Nero shook Mr. Barton's hand as the Lilim in the corner nodded. The raven-haired alchemist nodded as he left the stopped armored truck.

Barton heard the cry of a dying girl just before Shinji left the trailer opposite him. The now nervous human asked, "I'm guessing he was… unreasonable?"

Shinji sighed before calling a team over to clean out the space so it could be used for something else. "It was a she… or as much as anything that's been that twisted can be identified as a particular gender. The poor kid was barely even sentient, and in pain every moment. Lacking the equipment and supplies held in that base, she would have just died slowly and painfully."

A grimace contorted Barton's unfortunately feminine features as he said, "I'd hate to have to make the decisions you do." With that, he walked away.

As Shinji approached the next trailer in the line, he muttered to himself, "Think how much you'd hate getting used to making these decisions…"

The moment he walked through the opening, he knew something was wrong. First of all, there were no indications of any kind of restraints on the subject. Second, there were no broken restraints justifying the first issue.

The fact that a twelve year-old Asian girl was lying flat against a bed hanging upside down from the ceiling was also rather disconcerting.

Though the child never so much as opened her eyes, Shinji could hear her voice directed solely at him. _"I'm guessing you're the leader of the ones who rescued us from that place."_

"Well well well, this is going to be quite the interesting little chat."

* * *

Misato was among the last to fall into the dimly lit room on the other side of the dimensional tear Shinji had made. Assorted groans, complaints of inter-dimensional travel, and a solemn oath to "Use the fucking Herald next time" met her ringing ears as the mascot of a department store helped her up.

Shinji had been standing since the first glance she'd had of the room, though she was unsure if that was because he was just that used to things like that or he was able to get upright before anyone else knew where they were looking. The boy was rubbing his hands across his body, and she realized he was saying something.

"-at your limbs are still attached properly and your own, haven't switched eyes or testicles or anything, got all your teeth, yada yada yada. And, oh yes, do be sure not to accidently walk through that crack in the universe behind you all."

Misato looked back to see that, yes, there did appear to be a crack suspended in the air giving off a nearly blinding white light.

"If you disregard this warning, please be aware that there is a slim chance that attempting to pass through there to a point in the universe that no longer exists could cause all creation to come crashing down around us, a slightly larger chance that it'll just destroy a relatively small part of the universe that we unfortunately happen to occupy, and I guarantee that you will be retroactively erased from history and everything you've ever done will be undone in the physical world and in the memories of everyone but the Gods of Time."

Eight Persona Users, NERV's Operations Director, the rightful Queen of Wonderland, and a Lilithian abomination of science and decency slowly stepped away from the part of the universe that Shinji had broken to make a door.

Finishing his self examination, Shinji clapped his hands together and began leading the party to the exit. "Alright, let's see where the hell we ended up!" He slapped the frame of the doorway, and heard a CRACK, echoed by rumbling from the rest of the structure.

Alice facepalmed, having grown familiar with that sound. "I swear to Scathach, _every damn time _you touch something older than you that you don't own…"

* * *

"So," Shinji began while looking up at the child, "are you demon, angel, shadow, mix-"

"Human." The girl slid out from under her sheets, showing a very slim body with legs that seemed… twisted.

The monster frowned at the nude child. "No way. No human could manage to suspend a bed like that without any noticeable strain. Hell, they end up with nosebleeds just trying to bend spoons."

"I was born with an unusually high level of control, but you can thank the scientists for the level of power." She gave an indignant huff. "Their idea of a 'cure', apparently."

The abomination blinked in confusion. "A cure… A cure for what, telekinesis? You can't _cure _power like that; it's like trying to cure skin color, or having _teeth_."

"Yes," she agreed, "attempting to cure that would be something of an exercise in futility. But I was talking about my disease, not a fact of my biology. Well, I suppose technically they both are, but they were trying to cure the bad one, not the good one."

"Look, I realize that it would seem cruel to send a sick little girl out into what remains of the European countryside, but I can't let you stay here if you're going to get my people sick."

"Don't worry, it's not contagious or anything." Shinji leaned back against a wall. "Alright, you'll end up wanting to know most of this at some point or another; might as well get it out of the way. First of all, I've got Vrolik's Syndrome." Seeing the blank look on the monster's face, she used the more common name. "Brittle Bone Disease. Rare genetic disorder, no one knows what causes it, no viable cure, my bones have never developed properly, too much force and they shatter, my legs and ribs were cracking while I was in the womb. I learned to use telekinesis before I could opened my eyes, using it for years just to keep my bones from breaking and cutting my organs apart."

The monster nodded, it wasn't unprecedented for humans to develop unusual abilities of their own; Gods and Demons weren't the only paths to power available to humans, just the quickest. Though the statistical odds of telekinesis manifesting _and _Vrolik's Syndrome… that should only happen every four or five cycles of creation.

"Government found out about me when I was six, kidnapped me under the Paranormal Control Act of 2006, spent years injecting me with blood samples taken from a bound Angel to see what would happen. Didn't do jack shit about my bones, but I've got more raw power running through me on good days than most lesser deities."

Shinji tossed her his jacket, finally registering the fact that he was a physical manifestation of the negative aspects of a truly twisted mind even by demonic standards with the raw power to boot speaking with a nude twelve-year-old girl. Alone. "Just how much power are we talking here?"

The girl smirked. "Look outside."

He did.

They were under a lake.

Upside down.

He hadn't even felt the container shift.

The monster _grinned_. "_Ooohhhhhh, _I am going to _like_ you!"

Mayumi Yamagishi, world's strongest psychic, grinned back.

* * *

The group in the Dark Realm looked at the bazaar they'd arrived in the middle of, completely ignorant of the fact that they had just been in a collapsing house which subsequently ceased to exist after several pieces fell through a hole in the universe.

* * *

In Tokyo-3, a large number of people standing and sitting in an empty lot wondered why they came there on their lunch break and had a sudden craving for Thai.

* * *

As a Pyro Jack floated by, Misato looked at the people that had dragged her along, shocked at their apparent nonchalance at a flying pumpkin carrying a lantern. She tapped Raidou's shoulder and whispered, "You guys saw that, right?"

"Saw what?" No one deemed worthy of being bestowed the name of one of the Kuzunoha's Four Great Summoners could have been considered stupid, but there were so many things the NERV Officer could have been asking about: the solid-white hippo that just walked into an alley on its hind legs, any of the stalls that had been set up, the auction in the middle of the street, the large black building with a glowing purple circle filled with arcane markings on its door…

Misato pointed at the Pyro Jack as it passed through the marked doors.

The summoner, mistakenly believing her to be pointing at the building, told her "That's the Cathedral of Shadows."

"A cathedral? So it's like some kind of church?"

Raidou considered the possible ramifications of telling her what the facility was for. "Yes, it's something of a meeting place for the local cults." She lied.

"And what about that?" She pointed at a man with a large briefcase and several folders open to viewing by passerby.

If Misato had kept her attention on the younger woman's face, she'd have seen a slight flash of shame before she answered, "That's a contract broker." Shinji noticed the man and paused in his stride.

"Contract?" Misato asked. "Oh, so he'd some kind of agent?"

Without looking away from the man, Shinji answered before Raidou could get a work in. "He's a fucking slave dealer. Ready made contracts with captured demons that keep them from ever raising a hand against the master who in truth is too _incompetent _to work out a contract for themselves!" A surge of black lightning was emitted from the spire atop the Cathedral, accentuating his claim perfectly as everyone on the street turned to look at him; a few in shame, but most with either amusement at what they perceived as naivety or insulted by his claim that they couldn't work out a contract for themselves.

A 'helpful' passerby stopped to deliver some healthy advice. "Listen kid, I'm not disagreeing with you, but you should _really _get out of here. There's a _lot_ of nasty characters around today; there's gonna be a death match with some kid trying to take the title of a Kuzunoha. Hasn't been one for ages, and these guys wanna see somebody get cut… And most of them don't seem like the type to care who."

Shinji let out a low chuckle as he pushed the man out of his way. "Thanks, but I can handle myself."

The contract broker gave a barking laugh. "Handle yourself? Against me? Don't fool yourself ki-"

Shinji lashed out with Shamshel, forcing the man to stop and scream as his stomach was torn open. "Know your place you two-bit slave peddler. This is little street, this city, this fucking _world,_ is mine." He turned back on his path. "And I don't like slavers."

A gangly teen started shouting at his back. "You can't just attack merchants in the middle of the street! I'm gonna get a Kuzunoha after you! You'll never be safe again!"

Shinji smirked before placing his hand on Naoto's shoulder. "Handle this for us, would you? We're going on ahead."

The diminutive woman adjusted her cap and smiled as the others continued on. The threatening child turned his attention to her. "What're you lookin at me like that for, bitch? You want me ta report you too?" She couldn't help but chuckle at the fool's ignorance. "Stop laughin at me! Who the hell do ya think you are?"

She calmly drew her pistol and aimed it at the dark sky. "I'm Raidou Kuzunoha XIX," she paused before finishing the declaration, "bitch. Who the hell do _you_ think _you_ are?" She pulled the trigger. "Yamato-Takeru."

The white-clad swordsman casually swung his sword in a wide arc, sending several glowing tags raining down upon the gathering crowd.

Naoto dismissed her persona and summoned a Badb Catha to fly her to Dark Tokyo.

A white haired man missing his left arm in a white cloak covered in light blue spots stepped out of an alley, watching as the woman flew away, and sighed with relief. "That was close." A list and pocket watch floated out of his pocket with no apparent effort on his part. "Really need to be more careful about this. I should probably get out of the country until the Ark." He consulted the list. "Have to meet with that jackass in America before then anyway." He paused for a moment, as if listening to someone who wasn't there. "You don't want to see him? Well, too bad. This isn't a democracy, and I'm the King." He consulted the list again to be sure he wouldn't do something that didn't happen last time. "Alright, gotta make sure I've had this thing for a couple of days before the meeting, but get him here and hidden before the shit with Kirijo. Once I've sent him on his way, go to Italy and kill Conquest and the idiots. Then I just need to get on the ship and stay away from him." He groaned as he shoved the open watch and crumpled list back into his pocket. "Always the one you don't see. Huh. Then again, that's the only one it could have been."

* * *

Misato nervously looked at the young girl in blue shorts and a white tank top sitting to her left as they settled into the last of the Unicorn drawn carriages Shinji had led their group to. Deciding to take the opportunity to interrogate the (former?) pilot, she began questioning the teen. "So, Rei; what exactly is going on?"

"We are currently en route to Old Tokyo."

The older woman was understandably disturbed at the reply. Tokyo had been reduced to a nuclear waste during the Resource Wars. "But… wouldn't that kill us?"

"What do you mean?"

"The radiation!"

"As it has been explained to me, radiation poisoning would not be a life threatening threat. However, I have been assured that there is no risk."

"How can _radiation poisoning _not be a _risk_!"

"Why would you expect radiation? To my knowledge, our destination has never been exposed to any incident involving nuclear fallout."

Misato couldn't help but blink at that. How could one of the children NERV entrusted to pilot the Evangelions not know what happened to Tokyo? "Rei," she asked slowly, "where do you think we're going?"

"I have been informed that the official name of our destination is Dark Tokyo, though most refer to it as Old Tokyo."

"Dark Tokyo? What the hell does that mean?"

"It is the dimension Shinji-sama referred to as the Dark Realm's equivalent to Japan's former capital. As I understand it, this world is a near copy of our own barring certain discrepancies, such as the Coliseum we will soon arrive at so my master may fight his way to a position too important for his political enemies to risk moving against him."

"What?"

"The group you may know as the Human Instrumentality Committee will have the people you have met today executed if Shinji-sama fails to earn the protection of Izanagi-no-Okami."

"_What!"_

"However, he, and the others, shall be granted a pardon if he is able to defeat his grandfather in combat to the death."

"What."

* * *

"Are you sure you'll be able to win?"

Shinji smiled at the small girl across from him. "Remember who you're talking to. I've been fighting Devil Summoners for years, though none of his caliber. But I'm confident in my abilities. And besides," he withdrew the pair of _kuda_ from his jacket, "I could always use these if I really get stuck."

"Are you sure the cost would be worth it?"

He sighed. "Honestly, I'm not looking forward to having to deal with what I could lose, but I'm counting on the fact that there's very little left that wouldn't give me an upper-hand."

As Alice felt the carriage begin to slow, she asked, "You do realize that not everyone learns the same thing, don't you?"

Shinji opened the door at the entrance he would enter alone. "I'm counting on it." He jumped out and entered the arena, leaving the others to find seats.

* * *

The onyx seats were filled to the brim, hosting humans and demons alike. It was to be expected, really. This was the first time since Raidou XIV that members of the clan had actually fought with intent to kill. Past the obsidian circle isolating the battlefield, seats rose in a manner similar to the Roman Coliseum.

The interior of the arena, however, would never be mistaken for a battleground created by any civilization.

Any human civilization, at any rate.

The field itself was a perfect circle, with a radius of 350 meters ensuring space for anything either participant could summon. The ground was littered with ponds, trees, sand, and barrels filled with ink. But that was not the most unusual aspect of the arena.

The only ways to enter it were to jump from the spectators' seats, or along one of the two narrow paths (measured 83 years prior at 32 cm in width) which stretched from two opposite sides of the arena to the perfectly flat top of a crystal pillar. Seven torches aligned with the seven-pointed star were burning for the first time in decades. In the center of the star, a crow's wing overlapped an image of the sun. For the first time in decades, the blaze of ambition burned bright.

It was obvious that the pillar was not meant to be stood upon, and to fall from atop the high path to it would be inconvenient for a demon, and fatal to humans.

As an old man with a green cloak draped over his shoulders and a sword on his left hip strode onto the narrow path from a hole in the wall, a male voice echoed out, "Welcome, ladies, gentlemen, she-things, and beings of ambiguous gender, to the Second _ever_ Succession Battle!"

Though there were no speakers that the voice could have been coming from, most accepted the voice as an integral part of the Coliseum, or just thought a wizard did it.

There were, however, a small number of people who recognized the voice.

Kanji turned to the only other person he knew had heard the voice before. "Ain't that…?"

Yukiko sat rigidly in her seat as she replied, "That's the cat from the other day."

Naoto blinked from the row in front of the two, turning around asking, "How do you know Gouto?"

"It jumped into my car when we got into Tokyo-3." Kanji answered. "How do _you _know the talkin cat? It your pet or somethin?"

"_He_ is Gouto-Douji, my great-great-great-"

"On the Eastern Path, weighing in at 57 kilos, _Minatoooooooo Kuzunohaaaaaaaaa XXXIV!"_ The crowd cheered the summoner as he approached the circle.

"-great-great-"

"On the Western Path, weighing in at 475 kilos, the only man to ever face down the Hito-Shura in one-on-one combat and live to tell the tale," well, he did die a little. Okay, he died a lot- Fine, he died repeatedly and needed daddy to bail him out. And he hasn't actually told anyone the full story. "_Shinjiiiiiiiii Ikaaaarrriiiiiiiiiii!"_

"-great-great-"

Shinji appeared in the western opening, eyes closed and breathing deeply.

"-great-great-great grandfather."

Had Shinji not leaped straight from the opening to the edge of the circle, someone likely would have asked how that was possible. Instead, their attention was diverted to the child who weighed over half a ton and jumped 340 meters in a single leap.

"Well old man, you actually learn this ritual like a good little boy, or did you bastardize a forced summoning?"

Stone-faced as ever, Minato withdrew a silver knife. "I'll give you a moment to plead for your life."

The demon smirked at the summoner as he withdrew his own knife. "You're the one that'll be begging old man." The two cut into their palms in sync, tossing their knives aside and slamming their bloody palms against the ground.

"_That in His holy name you shall bare witness,_

_And choose one who may serve in his name,_

_We summon you to act as our sacred judge,_

_**YATAGARASU**__!"_

Flame erupted from the center of the circle as a three-legged crow flew out, engulfing the pair.

* * *

Next time: Shinji and an old man beat the hell out of each other in front of a couple of thousand people.


	15. He who has Seen the Truth

A pillar of flame erupted from the ground on either side of the pillar. A single male figure rolled out from each. Shinji prepared a blast of fire as he ran around the only obstacle between himself and his foe.

Minato was faster. "_Yurlungur!"_ As the giant rainbow-colored snake wrapped itself around the pillar, Shinji caught sight of the elder combatant and let loose a stream of blue fire to end the battle quickly. Yurlungur lazily flicked its tail to begin a torrential downpour which snuffed the flames out even as they left Shinji's hands.

The old man smiled as he was proven correct by a look of shock on his grandson's face. His attacks were fire-based, and the rain would ruin any tags he'd prepared in advance. Only ten seconds into the fight and the boy was completely shut down. He sighed. It was a pity really; he'd been hoping the bastard child would at least give him a decent workout.

'_Damnit, fire's out… can't control a Zio soaked… this rain would ruin the tags…'_ Shinji smirked. Glowing whip against a giant snake and one of the strongest summoners in the world it was.

Minato caught the look on his foe's face just in time and summoned Leanansidhe, and immediately felt the demonic woman's blood spray against the side of his face as she was struck by Shamshel at its full strength. The summoner called forth a Mezuki and Gozuki to support her.

As the horse-headed being charged forward with his sword beside his axe-wielding counterpart, Shinji dashed forward and delivered a spinning kick with enough force to cleave the woman in two at the waist, grabbed her neck, and ducked under a stab by Mezuki. Shinji kicked at the metal emblem strapped to the demon's chest as Gozuki lifted its axe. Mezuki flew back from the impact as Gozuki swung down, hearing a satisfying crunch and seeing blood spread from the source of the sound.

The demon grinned as it tried to lift its axe, only for it to change to a look of confusion as it gave the immobile weapon a stronger tug. Shinji rolled out from under the female corpse and through a piece of her skull into the demon's eye as he ripped the axe twice his size from Gozuki's hands.

He began spinning with the heavy weapon in hand, gathering momentum before tearing through the beast's chest, smiling as he saw blue crystals covered in a thick green liquid fall to the ground. The demon wasn't dead quite yet, but Shinji had ruined the blue core that acted for weaker demons like a human heart, pumping Green Blood through the body to facilitate regeneration. The core itself was a small, constantly moving object that was nearly impossible to hit. Shinji'd gotten lucky.

Enraged at its comrade's death, Mezuki charged forward. Shinji threw the axe at Yurlungur, only grazing the snake's tail and sending cracks running along the pillar, before slapped his hands together as the sword came down to his head, running his palms along the now-bloody blade to the hilt, tearing the weapon from the demon's hand even as it swung a fist down on the impudent whelp that dared fight him. Shinji grabbed at the fist, pulling the demon down to the ground and shoving his hands down its throat. He grinned as he saw the fear in the berserker's eyes, just before roasting the horse-headed man.

He shook his bloody arms out in the rain, allowing the flow of water to wash the worst of the gore from his arms. "What's next old man? You want to go for a jog?"

Veins popped out in the old man's neck as he ripped out three more _kuda_. "_Suzaku! Arachne! Gorgon!"_ Shinji lost his grin as he ran for the woods. The three demons were still materializing by the time he'd reached the foliage. "Don't just sit there! _After him!_"

The first to truly appear was Suzaku, better known to some as Zhu Que or Jujak, the black feathered Shishin of Summer and the South. The towering phoenix tossed its head back and screeched as the white frock on its head uncovered its onyx eyes. The holy being spread its glorious red wings as a wave of heat flowed through the arena and took flight, the simple motion of flapping its wings generating flames hot enough to reduce the rain around it to steam.

The Gorgon was next to appear. A seemingly normal human face was the first thing to be seen within the green light, though any such illusion was lost when she opened her reptilian eyes. The monster smiled as what may have been mistaken for dreadlocks from a distance were revealed, though such a mistake was impossible to make for anyone close enough to see the angry eyes and flitting tongues coming from each of the snakes nearly shut mouths. The light died down to reveal a distinctly feminine torso, which would have been quite a sight were there not drab scales instead of flesh. Until the wrists, her arms continued along such a pattern, but instead of hands, she had distinctly animalistic claws. From the waist down, the illusion of a human form was completely lost as the grey tail of a snake unfurled itself.

Arachne was the last. Venom dripped from enormous pincers, burning through the ground she stood above. Ruby eyes dotted her pitch, hairy head. Obsidian plating covered the spider's torso, as well as what portion of her legs were not a mass of hair and blades.

The two Greek monsters charged the forest, tearing the ground apart in their wake.

* * *

Misato blinked as hundreds of people in the stadium fled in fear. "I'm guessing something bad just happened?"

"Zhu Que," Naoto whispered. "A living embodiment of summer, the South, and fire."

"Arachne," Alice took up, "a vengeful woman turned into a spider by the goddess Athena."

"A Gorgon," the summoner continued, "a monster of inhuman strength that can turn any living being to stone by merely making eye contact."

"There's no way that's possible!" the Captain protested. "Those aren't even from the same mythologies; I know that much about them."

"Oh, they're all true to one degree or another," Alice said. "Or at least _were_, once."

Misato looked from the demon girl to the capped woman. "So… bad?"

"_Oh_, yes."

* * *

Shinji took another strip of tape and stuck a pre-made seal against the bottom of a branch, smiling slightly as he heard Arachne scream as she set off another trap he'd set, despite his knowledge that she would be moving again in a few seconds; barely enough to make up for the time he was losing setting another one.

A slight rustle behind him was the only warning he received before the Gorgon rushed out, grazing the back of his neck with its claws as the teen ducked and shut his eyes. The monster sprung forward, grabbing his arms as the mass of snakes bit into his neck.

The shock of the poisonous fangs digging into his was enough to force his to cry out in pain, though the sentiment was returned as flames consumed their bodies and forcing a separation of the two as Shinji fled.

Effectively blind, poisoned, caught by surprise, enemy reinforcements approaching… if someone started playing polka music, he was cutting his losses and quitting.

Hearing the angry hissing of snakes growing louder from behind and Arachne's crashing through the trees directly ahead, he followed his only option. He withdrew two marked tags from pockets inside his jacket, pushing energy into them as he pressed them against the ground. He sank through a newly formed hole in the earth as the mass being moved out of his way created a wave of dirt and stone with enough force to flip Arachne onto her back and sending the Gorgon into the air. As the wave sank back down, the hole plugged itself to cut off any chance of pursuit.

* * *

Minato drummed his fingers against his weapon's hilt as he awaited confirmation of the abomination's death. He felt a subtle pull from the weapon, pleading to once again be given the chance to drink mortal blood. He knew the weapon didn't particularly care whose blood, either. He felt a small grin form as he found himself whispering, "Perhaps, my old friend. But only if he comes to…" The elderly man's eyes widened as he felt a subtle shift in the ground before jumping back, just in time to avoid having his head ripped from his shoulders by his grandson's punch.

Unfiltered contempt was clear in the old man's eyes as he watched the rain wash the dirt off the small holes littering Shinji's neck. "Foolishness, child. You could have ended this before revealing your position. Such an opportunity will not be granted to you again."

Shinji winced at the pain of his torn neck as he began to speak. "I'll be sure to remember that. But you've over-extended yourself, haven't you? Don't lie, I can tell. Summoning any one of those behemoths would leave the average summoner gasping on the ground after a couple of minutes. There's not a chance you've got enough Magnetite in your system to maintain a fifth." Shinji left out that he doubted he himself could handle anything more than Alice, Rei, and Karina constantly draining him.

With the Gorgon's poison flowing through his body, he couldn't heal so much as a scratch. If he was right about his foe's limitations, it would lead to a fairly even battle.

Shinji hated even battles.

Too high a chance of losing.

An even battle against someone who seemed as cocky as the man standing ahead of him was even worse.

Shinji moved first, pulling Shamshel out in what he hoped to be a fatal strike to Minato's neck. His supernatural senses felt something malevolent come from the man as he calmly drew his sword, splitting the whip into two harmless strands.

An ordinary sword shouldn't have been able to do that.

The council abhorred Devil's Arms.

There was too much malevolent energy for the weapon to be holy.

"That's a fucking Muramasa," Shinji accused.

"Juuchi Musamu, if you want to go into specifics."

"Why in the name of Ame-no-Ohabari would you use something like _that?_"

The old man's grin unfolded into a slasher smile. "Why wouldn't I use a weapon that ensures I will do all in my power to kill my foe?" The man charged with a speed that shouldn't be possible with his decrepit body, slashing through Shinji's coat and shirt, and would have made a clean cut through his chest had he not jumped back. "Especially when drawing your blood feels so _good_?"

Shinji's vision began to blur as he struggled to maintain his footing. "What do you mean?"

The old man casually leaned back, sword slack in his hand, as he began to explain. "Muramasa's weapons drive the people who draw them beyond their physical limits. How else did you think I survived as many assaults as I have in my condition? They literally won't let us stop until we've cut into someone."

The teen winced as his ears begin ringing. "You seem pretty damn calm for-" his eyes widened as he felt the faint trickle of warm liquid running down his belly.

Minato casually flicked a single drop of his grandson's blood from his blade. "Did I mention that Muramasa's weapons were all infused with a diajama during their forging?"

Red blood begin seeping from the assorted cuts along Shinji's face and hands, as well as the bites in his neck, as the Gorgon's venom began to move freely through his body, without the neutralizing effects of his green blood repairing the damage.

Seeing no other remaining option, Shinji's left hand began fumbling for the last resort he'd prepared. Minato charged forward, bringing the cursed Juuchi Musamu down on Shinji's arm in an arc, the unholy power behind the weapon's creation easily cutting through the unnaturally dense muscle and bone like the teeth of Hi-no-Kagatsuchi through ice. A meaty thud managed to slip past Shinji's ringing ears as his preferred hand and several centimeters of his arm hit the ground.

Blood spurted from the severed limb, not decreasing in intensity in the least over five seconds. It never took more than three seconds for artery damage to noticeably fix itself. The diajama was keeping his body from healing.

And thanks to the immunity that accompanied his newfound ability with fire, he couldn't even use heat to cauterize the wound.

Being fireproof could really suck sometimes.

He ducked beneath a swing that would have beheaded him, grabbed his severed hand, and ran back to the forest. Seeing a slight rustle that easily could have been natural wind, Shinji skid and dashed to his right…

Running straight into Arachne's web in a matter of seconds. Eyes widening with terror, Shinji dropped his hand and began struggling to free himself, trying to burn his bound body free of the web by sending azure flames out of every pour of his body. Failing to cause the demonic web any harm with flame, he began trying to break free of the threads, quickly working himself into a position with his body held straight out with his right arm reaching for the ground, and pointedly ignored the fact that his position was causing the pockets inside his jacket to fall through the new opening reaching from his right shoulder to the bottom of his left ribcage.

His head held against the web in a way forcing him to look at a rustling bush, Shinji forgot to do one thing in his panic: he didn't close his eyes.

The Gorgon smiled as she met his eyes, and watched contentedly as the fleshy thing before her turned to heavier granite. The sudden increase in weight proved too much for Arachne's weaving, causing the strands to snap and drop the rock to the ground.

* * *

As circumstance would have it, the remaining hand of the statue brushed against a silver tube when it landed, activating the mechanism within, and activating Shinji's final resort.

A transmutation circle.

Still sentient within the statue, Shinji felt a resonance from the circle: something unholy, something containing an untold punishment.

Something that could give Power.

He pushed everything left in his soul into triggering the system.

The circle, with a ten meter diameter, glowed in an indisputably unholy way. Black lightning crackled through the air within the circle, increasing in both speed and intensity. An eye opened beneath Shinji. Tendrils of darkness flowed through the opening in the universe, dragging the statue to the other side.

* * *

The first thing Shinji noticed was that his left hand was lighter. Not missing, just not as dense. "Hmmm; must have used the existing bone, muscle, and nerves to grow it out after purging the poison and converting to flesh." He began looking at the sight before him; an endless white expanse, no other thing (living or otherwise) in sight.

He smiled as he looked over his shoulder at the floating set of doors. Two stone tablets, with the ten Sephirot and 22 connecting channels forming the 32 Paths of Wisdom carved into their surface, stood firm. A single line ran down the center where the doors would part, though there was no indication of anything to hold them shut, nor any reason that their base would be level with his knees instead of feet.

He sighed as he looked forward again to see the black mist providing some distinction between the nondescript individual sitting with its arm resting on a raised knee. "So," he started, "I take it you're the 'Truth'?"

He was answered by his own laugh, though the sound came from the 'Truth'. _"You're certainly different than the others."_ A part of the 'head' split open, revealing the inside of a mouth as pure a white as the rest of the creature. _"That is on of the names I have been known by. I am also the world. Or the universe. Or God. Or all. Or you. Many have stumbled upon this place, some in ignorance, some forced in, but you are the first to arrive by your own will."_ The stone doors behind Shinji opened, revealing a single, massive, eye floating within the abyss. _"Welcome, young fool who reached for that far greater than himself."_

Shinji calmly stood as tendrils of shadow, tipped by tiny hands, reached out of the darkness to drag him in.

He didn't resist.

"_You must _**really **_want this."_

The Truth saw into the Devil's eyes as the doors closed.

"_To see the Truth."_

For a single moment, falling was the only sensation.

Then, without warning, every one of his senses was forced to its absolute limit. Every thought, every word, every action of every being was forced into his mind faster than it could accept the input. His own sense of self began to fall to pieces. But, through the pain, there was one single, shining instant of clarity. To know what it was to be a God. To know the domain of every being to ever exist, and exactly what needed to be done to strip it away.

It felt so _simple._

He heard a slam of a door, and was standing before the man that was not a mortal in any sense of the word. _"Did you have fun?"_

"It was something I wouldn't mind repeating," Shinji answered. "But I know that everything has a price. I can't help but wonder what it will be for this."

Another laugh. _"I _like _you boy. Possibly the first to actually realize an exchange for information is still an exchange."_ Blue lightning crackled along the Truth's side as a human's left arm began to form.

Shinji's left side suddenly felt a lot lighter.

A very much flesh and bone Shinji Ikari looked down at the blood-soaked grass, noticing his very empty left sleeve. "Damn thing took my arm," he growled. Emotions ordinarily kept buried began to churn, a sense of mourning for his forever-lost limb, fear of what the Gorgon could still do to him, but more than anything, anger at being forced to give away a part of himself to that Eldritch Horror. He began to stand, pointedly not looking at the source of the sound approaching him from behind.

He let the rage loose.

Pure energy, untainted by Gods or Devils alike, pulsed from within him, instinctively shaped by what he had seen beyond the Gate.

The Gorgon got within two meters before entering what, by power nothing near was able to dispute, was His territory.

A few specks of red that narrowly missed his ear were the only evidence of the demon's lunge. Shinji stared at the specks. The pool of blood he was standing in. The severed hand in its own little puddle. "Heh." It was short. Quiet. Easily missed. But his small chuckle began to build as he realized just what he'd gained. "Heh heh." The power to expand "Hahaha" and contract "_hahahahaha"_ and manipulate "_AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"_

Absolute Territory.

Laughing as loudly as possible is not a good way to remain undetected, especially when someone who wants to kill you is within earshot. It's even easier to be detected when several of the aforementioned lethal entities have the ability to hear something from miles away. Monsters like Arachne would recognize such laughing as vulnerable prey, and begin to chase it down.

The giant spider made a big show of spewing acid and knocking thing trees out of its path while approaching Shinji at the edge of the tree line. The young man calmly walked into the open as his grandfather climbed atop the back of Suzaku. As the celestial phoenix took to the sky, Arachne appeared behind Shinji and reached down with its pincers. He ducked as the poisonous bits clamped together, jumping back a meter before dashing forward and delivering a kick to what passed for a chin that sent the demon flying higher than some of the smaller trees in the forest.

He crouched down and jumped into the air, the almost immutable laws of physics leaving a crater where he'd been standing. He grabbed Arachne's neck and formed a circle of solid energy to stop his flight. He pushed away, dragging the monster in the direction of the crystal pillar. Or, to be more accurate, he pushed the air itself out of his path with his AT-Field to speed toward the weather-controlling fertility spirit wrapped around the pillar.

On average, modern artillery strikes would have been less painful that the two acid-dripping spikes that stabbed into the snake's head. The pillar itself began to fall as Shinji set the two demons ablaze and took off running.

Yatagarasu watched passively from one of the many stone pedestals in the front row of the ring of seats.

Shinji had stopped bothering to try running up the falling pillar, instead using his flames to rapidly heat and expand the air behind him to soar toward the soaring Suzaku and the summoner on its back. He was actually close enough to see the old mans eyes before the creature flapped its wings, sending a heat wave that ruined any hope of flying to the creature.

Before he fell too far, Shinji whipped out Shamshel, the end wrapping around the oversized bird's left talon, using it to heave himself up to the creature, and landing just a few feet from Minato.

"Regardless of your methods, I must say I'm impressed with your abilities." He pressed his thumb against the tsuba of Juuchi Musamu. "It's such a shame you have to _die!"_ Shinji snapped his fingers as a line of flame formed, and a distinctly metal _clang_ sounded as the flames died, revealing an enormous blade that would have been easily recognized by any of the group that fought Nelo Angelo last week. "Really," he scoffed as he saw the thin cut on Shinji's right cheek. "A final battle between the young and the old, using weapons and magic atop a flaming bird while watched by a representative of the gods? How cliché."

Shinji's arm trembled only slightly under the pressure of the man's two handed grip. He answered in English, just to irritate the Japanese man. "Flock off."

The elder man answered with a narrowly avoided kick to the groin. He freed one hand from his sword and decked the boy. Shinji let him crack his own knuckle on his chin before knocking the cursed sword aside and threw a punch at the man.

Or tried to. But without a left arm to strike with, he had to change to bash him with what was left of his shoulder. Still, it was enough to knock Minato back while Shinji started hacking away. Minato was able to avoid the heavy weapon for the most part, evading and parrying all but the most grazing of blows, but every attack Shinji failed to land turned into a stab into Zhu Que's back.

Shinji smirked as he saw the rate of regeneration begin to slow. He back flipped away from a vertical slash, discreetly sighing with relief the katana passed just short of his crotch, and threw his zweihander at the human. Minato leaned out of the way, sighing. "Throwing your sword," he dryly stated. "Really?"

Shinji smiled as the hilt of his weapon struck the back of Zhu Que's head with a sharp crack, quickly followed by the celestial bird's cry of pain. He let himself begin to fall off the right side of the bird, telling the old man, "Throwing your sword _always_ works."

He fell.

His face was an utter image of serenity, looking as comfortable as if he were receiving a massage. He smiled as he whipped Shamshel out to catch his sword, the end wrapping around the hilt and being flung back through the laboring chest of the concussed phoenix, passing straight through the bird and eviscerating Minato, who staggered off to fall to his death.

Shinji ditched his jacket to reveal that, like any good summoner who saw a fight atop a bird highly unlikely, he had worn a parachute. As the canvas unfolded and Shinji prepared for a graceful landing, his chute was torn open by a flying katana that spiraled down through his right shoulder and tore open his lung before the tip passed between his fifth and sixth ribs.

From above, Minato spat blood after his grandson before whispering, "Throwing your sword… always works… _right?"_

* * *

So, to sum up Shinji's new tricks: he can make Nelo Angelo's sword appear with a burst of flame, he can completely disintegrate something with his AT-Field if he's feeling emotional enough, he can catapult himself through the air, and he basically had the Akashic Records shoved into his head. On the downside, he just lost a lung and fell into a forest after being cut by a blade that prevents regeneration. And it's a half-mile drop from the nearest living being.

WiredJunkie1100: I'll have a character sheet up after the Abyss eats most of the important people that are still alive. There are still several characters left that I wouldn't feel right not including, like the people in the UN Fleet and at least half-a-dozen more Persona Users. And if you can find them, I _really_ recommend Nocturne or the two Digital Devil Saga games.

Deep Space Cowgirl: I'll take that as a compliment.

Hanzo of the Salamander: I have _much_ more planned than this. You'll know Bad Things will begin soon when everyone that isn't an ignorant normal human gets physically knocked on their ass.


	16. Rain

Anyone ever get a Christmas card saying 'Sorry I forgot your birthday?

WiredJunkiee1100: Shinji is one of the heaviest hitters in play at the moment. Given proper preparation, he could take down half the UN summoners without having to breathe heavily. If he was really lucky, he _might_ be able to run away from something on Zeus's level. Maybe I should come up with some kind of chart… Anyway, don't start thinking he's ready to beat down Hito-Shura or Satan, or even a single one of the Angels of Presence. I assure you, Shinji dying is well within the realm of possibility (especially if exposed to certain substances, one of which will be significant in this chapter and the next).

And we now grow closer to killing canon, by bending the timeline. I start snipping at it once Noah's Ark arrives.

* * *

"Kanji! Souji!" Naoto shouted as she wrapped her arms around Rei and Alice. The two men grabbed her legs as the demons dragged her down to the front row. "Invalidate the challenge and we're all dead," she reminded them.

Anger at the dying old man still evident on her face, Alice stopped struggling. "But-"

"All we can do now is pray."

Alice snorted. "You know how he feels about Divine Intervention."

* * *

Shinji was forced back into consciousness as the sword was pulled out of his shoulder. Though the action barely registered, he was able to notice the figure of a tiny man standing beside his shoulder. He tried to cry out in pain, but that action becomes much more difficult with lung damage. Although, that issue was becoming moot as flesh was knitting itself back together.

He rolled off of the irritating thing poking at his hip, holding himself up with his one arm and attempting to empty his right lung of blood. He focused on the action-figure sized man, who was wearing white silk pants, a slightly darker shirt, and a magatama hanging from his neck on a black string. His pants were slightly stained by the young man's blood, though he didn't seem to mind. Shinji looked the tiny creature in the eye and asked, "Who or what in Hell are you?"

The little man promptly produced a full quiver and a bow, sending a little arrow into Shinji's cheek for his disrespect. "I am the one who just saved your life, ungrateful child. You should be thanking me."

"Saved my life?" he whispered. The little man nodded. "What is wrong with you! You just got every one of them killed!" He received another arrow to the face.

"I know full well the limitations on interference in this challenge, and I am well within those limits to provide medical care to the victor. The thirty-fourth had already lost when he inflicted that wound, and could have put an end to the Minato line by doing so. I am sure the shinigami have a special room waiting for him back home."

"Back home?"

"Yes. I am Sukuna-Hikona, kami of medicine. I suppose you could attribute your survival and new position to my Intervention."

Shinji smiled, gears in his head turning. "So, I have the position, my grandfather is dead, my group is safe, and I'm alive because of you."

"I believe you've summed up the events quite nicely."

"Good." He knocked the tiny deity into the nearest tree. "Never interfere in my affairs again. The disputes and problems and _lives_ of mortals are not to be your damn _toys_. If I ever see you in a mortal plane, rest assured that I will _**end**_ you." The little kami looked up at Shinji in shock. "Tell your Lord that the affairs of humans are the affairs of humans alone."

Sukuna-Hikona rose. "I shall be sure to inform him of your impudence, _freak_. Do not expect such a blessing again. Thou shalt never again seek mortal aid with mine blessing." Shinji felt a slight twinge as the kami faded away.

"Damn…" he hissed. "This is the worst way this could have ended." He shook his head. "At least this can still be salvaged." He looked down to see what had been poking him. "Well, at least I'll have some souvenirs." He pocketed the thing on the ground and tore of a strip of denim from his jeans. He carefully wrapped the hilt of the sword in the strip, careful not to physically touch it himself, and went to retrieve the scabbard from a corpse.

* * *

As a single figure emerged from the forest with a thin katana pushed into the left-most belt loop of his pants, and a Jack Frost and a Pyro Jack looked down from the nosebleed seats. The pair watched as Shinji ran up a wall, to land on the platform opposite the Yatagarasu. "By the Ancient Rite of Succession, and in accordance with our clan's contract, I renounce the Name of Shinji Ikari, and claim my rightful place among the clan as Minato Kuzunoha XXXV."

The Yatagarasu seemed to bow its head as a surge of energy emanated from Minato's pedestal.

The blue-capped snowman turned to its lantern-wielding compatriot. "So, what does that mean? Does he not have a name anyone can exploit anymore?"

The Pyro Jack sighed. "It's… complicated. I'd be more comfortable if I could actually look at you while I lectured."

The Frost sighed as the two faded away into blue energy.

* * *

A Japanese man who looked to be entering middle age rose from his hotel bed with a groan. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing at the scar above his left eye before allowing his long, dark hair to fall over it. He reached up, stretching his arms before putting the jacket of his grey suit back on. "Damnit, I'm getting too old for out of body experiences."

"Oh, quit being such a grumpy old man." A young oriental woman, looking to be in her early 20s, straightened her red miniskirt as she walked over to the mini fridge. She pulled out a bottle of water, the chill from the container making it clear there was no bra under her orange tank-top. She removed the cap, draining half the bottle in one gulp. "So, explain the name thing."

"I'm not that old," he grumbled as he pulled out a grey bang. "Toss me a drink, will you?"

She bent back down. "What do you want? Mad Bull, Dr. Salt, Cielo Mist-"

"Mist." She threw the plastic bottle as hard as she could at his head. It bounced off his cheek, leaving not even the slightest mark. His head didn't even twitch at the impact. "Even if, and that's a pretty strong if, this body's starting to get a little stiff, that doesn't mean my mind's slowed down in the slightest. And that's Name, capital N." He took a sip from his bottle and let out a contented sigh. "Someone's true Name, delivered straight from their lips, can give some humans and most demons a _lot_ of control over you. It's why I keep cutting you off every time you decide to introduce us to somebody. Now, a demon's Name never changes, because the demons themselves don't go through any significant change. But humans are different. We have this annoying little habit of self-examination that leads to reevaluating ourselves, causing our Name to change with us. By renouncing his name, the thirty-fifth removed any sway that anyone could have held over him."

"But he gave his new name out right away, in front of hundreds of demons."

"And that's the thing, that name was fresh, new, unwashed. He's never used it before, so he doesn't really associate himself with it yet. Anyone that wanted to use it to control him would need to do it before he was able to make the slightest thought about how the position could affect him. The actual Name could be decided by any number of things; how he felt about the last meal he had, a new haircut, a breakup, meeting someone new, a shocking revelation, a new fetish-"

A red eyebrow arched. "What was that last one?"

"A shocking revelation?"

"After that."

"A new pet fish?"

"… sure. Anyway, I think I get it. Basically, Names give people control, anyone who knew the kid's Name can't use it anymore, and the one he gave before we left wouldn't work because he's a mortal and he thinks."

"Right. Minato Kuzunoha XXXV could be his absolute identity, but it could just as easily be as much a part of his name as an honorific. But, there's more we need to discuss. Do you think we should approach him?"

"Why're you asking me? You're the boss."

"And you're-"

Whatever she was, she didn't get to hear it as someone pounded at the door. "We know you're in there, Toudou! Let the prostitute go and come out with your hands up!"

"…what did he call me?"

"Shit!" The man, Toudou, swore. "Plan, plan, need a plan." He saw the young woman lift a naginata. "Not that kind of plan!" he hissed.

"Then what do you suggest!" she hissed back.

"We have the building surrounded! If you do not exit the room by the count of 10, we will use lethal force!"

"Just let me think."

"10"

"You don't have time to think."

"9"

"Shut up."

"8"

"Got it."

"7"

"I'll jump out this window"

"6"

"And meet you at the safe house in Shinoda."

"5"

"That's a terrible plan!"

"4"

"No time for a good one."

"3"

He smiled. "Showtime."

At the sound of breaking glass, a man in a black suit kicked down the door, followed in by a similarly dressed brunette man with sunglasses and a crouching woman in a grey tracksuit, all of whom had swords at their hips and guns drawn.

They saw a woman apparently soaked with sweat under ruffled sheets, and one of the men fought down a blush as he identified the cotton garment his foot was on.

"That crazy bastard jumped out the window!" The young woman kept looking at the trio. "Well, aren't you going to do something!"

The woman was the first to regain her focus. "But… we're on the fourth floor. He'd just get splattered on the pavement or get the hell knocked out of him by the guys out front."

The man in sunglasses answered, "You don't know this guy."

* * *

The men stationed on the ground radioed in to inform those inside of the building of the man who jumped out a window, grabbed a ledge, and swung through a third-floor window.

Toudou began stripping out of his grey suit, changing into a pair of blue jeans and stealing a brown trench coat on his way out of the room. "Had to leave the damn sword in the room, didn't you?" He paused at the door, looking at the hat rack and the popcorn tin below it for only a moment before making a decision.

* * *

He'd stolen the light brown fedora.

It looked good with the coat hanging down to his calves.

The red and white umbrella didn't look nearly so good, but it would be more useful.

The elevator dinged just as Toudou passed it. "Never staying in a room off the ground floor again." He shoved the umbrella through the widening slit, pushed the button on the handle, and took a moment to hear the satisfying sound of the occupants falling down before running for the stairwell.

"The thing I don't get is this; _why_ would a Persona User of your potential, your power, become a terrorist? I can understand dissatisfaction with the system, but why would you choose _this_?"

Toudou looked at the man blocking the stairwell. "I don't see much reason to explain myself to you, Shades."

A potshot from Shades grazed Toudou's cheek. "Would it really be so hard to remember my name? Suou. Just two little syllables. It would have taken you less time to do that than it would to figure out that stupid nickname."

"You've read my file; you know how I feel about being authority figures that aren't me."

"You just have to do this the hard way, don't you?"

A soft, blue light appeared in Toudou's hand as he answered, "Aren't you used to that yet?" The sound of breaking glass accompanied the crushing motion of his right hand. "Amon Ra." What could best be described as a crystal monkey-man appeared before him and charged Suou.

To his credit, the shaded man didn't even flinch. "Hyperion!" The Titan of Light appeared before Suou in all his black and white striped glory. The Persona caught Amon Ra's staff as it came down over his head, knocking the monkey-man back with a wave of his hand, sending out a hail of shrapnel.

Toudou dismissed his Persona, ducked, and summoned again to send a lance of fire down the hall. As Suou leaned out of the way, Amon Ra unleashed a surge of electricity that forced Hyperion to retreat into Suou's soul. Toudou smiled as he pulled out a pistol. "The problem with you UN mystic lore arcane knowledge types is, you just don't move forward as quick as the pe-"

_Bang_

_Bang Bang_

"And your problem, Toudou," he told the man as he lowered his gun, "is your arrogance." He felt an unsubtle attempt to change Persona from the dying man, but he didn't have time to find out what he'd changed to before Toudou died. "You could've done so much good."

* * *

"So, how do we get back?" Misato asked. "You about to tear up the universe a bit more?"

Shinji's lips twitched in a small smile. "Most people would be congratulating the kid who just saved the lives of himself and his comrades."

Misato crossed her arms under her chest. "Most people don't get kidnapped in the morning and forced to see that, while they aren't crazy, what seems like half the planet's been keeping me in the dark." Unspoken concerns about what would be done to her now that she knew didn't help her mental state, either.

"I suppose you have a point. There is a reason I wanted to speak with you specifically, but I would prefer to do so in a less public venue." Shinji made a general waving motion toward the various shops that could be seen through the dark fog filling the world.

"And just how long will that take?" she asked in an irate tone.

Shinji looked to his left at the bench Yosuke and Chie were sprawled across, the store Rei had been dragged into by Rise and Yukiko, the less pleasant seeming building Alice had accompanied his cousin into, and the kiosk Souji, Teddie, and Kanji were waiting in line at. "About… twenty minutes?"

* * *

"So this is the glorious feast granted to the people who save the world, huh?" Shinji asked Souji.

The grey-haired man threw his strawberry ice-cream at the smartass. Shinji calmly allowed the frozen confectionary to hit his forehead, drenching his face and neck with sugary pink liquid and bits of cone. "In my defense," he told Rei, "I really did think he'd dodge it."

Shinji sighed and leaned back, the melting treat remaining suspended in the air in a passable replica of his face. Rise let out an appreciative whistle at the display. "That's a nice trick. How'd you come up with it?"

Shinji stepped aside and allowed Seta's snack to fall to the ground. "Thirty-two volume set of textbooks outlining the basic theories behind Absolute Territory, followed by a compilation of three thousand years of study on physics and Magnetite manipulation." He got a lot of disbelieving looks. "Speed reading."

"I just don't see what _possible_ use you could have for incubus tears. Sulfur, red ice, black ice, Hellfire in a jar, Jubokko roots, powdered pixie wings, assorted gems; Hell, even the severed Lernaen Hydra head would have been more useful." Shinji turned to the speaker, glad that there was something more interesting than his 'speed reading' for the others to focus on.

"Naoto-kun, I'm shocked," Shinji grinned. "Why would a beautiful young woman like you need such a strong aphrodisiac?"

The cheeks of the Kuzunoha in question turned noticeably pink as everyone within hearing distance who _hadn't_ been staring at her turned to do so. "They have… other uses." There were a few arched eyebrows, some nervous chuckling, and one _disturbing_ smile from Rei. "Can we please just get going?"

"Are you sure you don't need anything else? Blood of a male virgin, maybe? Cause I'm sure Tatsumi'd be happy to help you out with that."

Kanji turned red. "HEY!"

"Rei?"

The bluenette gave the muscled young man a quick glance. "Virgin."

Naoto arched an eyebrow. "Virgin?"

Yosuke rubbed his brow. "Kanji?"

Kanji turned more red. "They're lying!" he snapped. "All three of'em are lying manipulative demons who lie!" He pointed at Shinji. "He said they were!"

"You just said I'm a manipulative liar, then immediately tried to use one of my statements as evidence." His right hand was faintly glowing. "Either I was being honest, which means I'm a liar who can't be believed; or I was lying, which means that you're trying to use false testimony as evidence. Still, it's nothing to be ashamed of, even if it's a _lot_ easier to get laid now than it was in pre-Impact society."

"The Hell it ain't!" he spat. "I mean, I'm not… I'm…"

Shinji snapped his fingers. "Traesto."

The Traesto was a difficult skill to perform in ideal circumstances: a moderate drain on whatever source of energy was used, a degree of concentration that would normally take a person a few minutes to have a chance of achieving, and the luxury of moving only one or two entities in a straight line, accompanied by a lot of green energy spiraling around them.

Shinji had managed to transport eleven people, including himself, into another plane of existence while insulting one of them, producing no spectacular images beyond an initial flash of green light.

"I'm good." Shinji looked around. No one had so much as lost their footing. The only noticeable change to how the group had arranged itself was that they were now in a dark room.

He flicked the light switch on the wall behind him, providing what was necessary for those lacking highly refined senses (e.g. Kanji, Yosuke, Chie, Rei, Yukiko, and Misato.) to realize they were no longer within the Dark Realm. Yosuke was the first of them to realize what had been done. "Traesto, huh? I thought that was a little more… flashy."

"Bah, the glowing runes and lightning running in a circle only happens when you're being inefficient. Now, if all of you save Captain Katsuragi would leave? I believe a proper explanation of my intent is long overdue."

Rei, Alice, and the Persona Users began to file out of the room. "Dude, I got you alone in a room with a drunk, gorgeous babe who was totally into you, and you _still_ didn't score."

Shinji calmly waited for them to leave before speaking. "Please, have a seat, ma'am."

"I'd rather stand."

Shinji waved his remaining arm, forming a chair nicer than the one in Misato's office directly behind her. "I insist. It would reflect poorly on me as a host to make a woman such as yourself stand."

A single moment of eye contact was enough to send a warm sensation running through her body. "Alright." She allowed her body to fall back into the comfortable chair. "Why did you want to meet with me? Why drag me along and watch you fight? A show of force to gain NERV's support in whatever you're trying to do? Something directed towards me personally?"

"Captain, I assure you I have naught but the most benevolent intentions in this meeting. I've heard a great deal about you." She couldn't help it, she met his eyes again. "You have seen the kind of cruelty that even the most devout of His followers are constantly subjected to, you know what it is like to be the only one among the ignorant masses to know the true terror of the world around them, and you have seen His complete and utter apathy to the plight of all sentient life. You have seen the powers at my disposal, and I _swear_ on my _life_; so long as even a single human desires my aid, I will _never_ submit to anything that would _dare_ to oppress these people." Every word just seemed so _right_; as if he was pulling out every thought she'd ever pushed into a corner of her mind. "I only want to help, and I will devote every resource at my disposal to do so. I know that you don't have the authority to enter an agreement with me for NERV, and so I merely ask that you give me the chance to negotiate an alliance with your leader." He kneeled down to meet her at eye level and took one of her hands in his, eyes watering as he begged, "_Please_; let me help you save these people."

* * *

"So, you think he'll manage to arrange the meeting?" Naoto aked.

"I am… unsure." Rei replied. "As I understand, Captain Katsuragi is the highest ranking employee of NERV who remains completely unaware of the contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, Dr. Akagi, and myself all held some knowledge of the scenario based upon them, though Commander Ikari is the only person I am aware of who seemed to have anything approaching an understanding the Scrolls' contents, though it is far from a complete understanding."

"Who really does understand prophecies? Take the one he's most concerned with. No one is completely sure what the original wording of the prophecy was, and the best recreation of the statement anyone could get out of the man was that the last son of Sparda would see the end of the Universe. It has too many possible interpretations: the last son could literally be the last child he fathered, the last of them to survive, any given male member of the line, or it could just mean that as long as there are two male descendents this reality will endure. Really, is it too much to just ask for a simple 'Do this to him so she won't do that'?"

"Prophecy," Alice snorted, "is over-rated. All you're doing is reading history in the wrong direction. And you humans usually don't do a very good job _either_ way."

"No wise man or woman has ever claimed to truly understand the threads that compose the fabric of the universe, nor how they are affected by movement within the fourth dimension. Perhaps you would like to share your infinite wisdom and shed light upon the intents of the Weavers of Fate and the Gods of Time?" Naoto asked with a smirk.

"Never said we understood what those crazy blighters were talking about either." Alice pointed out. "But still, there's a more important question; will he be able to convince her?"

"If you have read through the files compiled by Shinji-sama, you would understand her motivations. As long as she understands that he sincerely wishes to destroy His angels, he should be able to convince her to aid him, though I am unsure what degree of use that aid might be."

In truth, Alice genuinely didn't care what happened with the woman. In an ideal situation, they would have an informant highly placed within NERV's command structure (though the Sub-Commander or Project E Chairwoman would likely be preferable), while in the worst case, Misato's mind could simply be completely suppressed, utilization of possession would allow the arrangement of the meeting anyway, and a subsequent 'accident' would be arranged, allowing someone potentially easier to manipulate into the group. The absolute worst outcome predicted would be for them to merely become _closer_ to meeting their secondary goal of establishing credibility than actually achieving some agreement with NERV. Still, better not to let the detective/summoner sworn to defend the people know how far they were willing to go with the phrase 'contingency plan' unless absolutely necessary.

The sound of a door opening on the upper level precluded further discussion. "So, where should we arrange the meeting?"

"The McDonald's on Shirokawa. If he wishes not to meet with me outside his little cave, inform him that it would be to his advantage for there to be witnesses that do not work for either of us. After all, we've been given a blessing by the removal of any data regarding the thousands of demons roaming the streets, and I do not wish to squander it by revealing myself to the world prematurely." Shinji told her. "If I were to assault him with my unnatural abilities within NERV and it were caught on camera, many would dismiss it as a hoax. In public, there would be witnesses far more likely to realize what is going on. Then again," he said, "deluding itself is the only thing humanity does better than waging war."

"Hey!" Miasto protested. "Some people might get a little offended by comments like that."

"Said the soldier."

"I said _some_ people, not me." They both grinned. "I guess I'll see you later."

Shinji leaned forward, gently kissing her hand. "Until then, I bid you adieu."

Misato sighed as she turned and left. "Finally find a halfway decent guy in this city and he's not human, a teenager," noticing a glare from Rei, she added, "he's taken, and he's related to my boss. There's no fucking justice in this world," she muttered. She stepped outside, pausing for a moment as she let the rain flow over her, and went home.

Naoto waited for the captain to leave before going up to confront her cousin. "Please tell me you didn't mess this up trying to get a date with her."

"Give me some credit," he complained. "If I had really been trying to get her into bed, I would have seduced her first, tied her loyalty to me, and used her to enact my will upon NERV. Instead, I'm going to enter directly into negotiations with my alleged father. If I happen to have made her believe I am among the dateable 5% of the city population, then… what can I say? I'm still a demon, I still have urges. But I still like to think I control myself much better than others, especially given that I have a second voice in addition to my instincts."

Naoto looked at him for a long few seconds. "As long as you keep it consensual." She told him. "So, what are you going to do now? Arrange for human support in case negotiations go south?"

"No. I'm going to spend the next few hours processing what I saw past the Gate, then work out a ritual to counteract the diajama."

"Shouldn't you consider reversing those two?" she asked.

"Even if I could regenerate, my arm's never growing back. The information buried in my head, however, could contain long forgotten rituals, containment arrays that could minimize the threat presented by the Angels, Fallen or otherwise, or even help me figure out how to recreate what's in that damn case Alice has been keeping warded. Besides, I can still handle myself in a straight fight with the AT-Field and my natural strength. I'd just have to dodge instead of block with my skin."

'_**Who knows? It might be fun to see you bothering to dodge for once, instead of just walking along as flesh is ripped from your bones.'**_

Shinji didn't dignify his father with a response. "I would appreciate it if you would allow me some time to myself." _'I need to figure out how to proceed with the scenario.'_

'_**You've been doing a good job so far, as far as eliminating variables. I didn't think you had it in you to put a geis over a relatively innocent woman who likely would have helped regardless.'**_

Shinji entered a small room, lighting several candles with a snap of his fingers and sitting with his legs crossed. His eyes began to glow with power as he began to recite lines of information, useless history, proper coordinates of arrays, but nothing any could see as significant.

* * *

"_**The last Son of Sparda shall stand witness as the Universe dies over the barren wastes of the world."**_

* * *

Shinji came out of his trance sweating, panting for breath, and more frightened than he could ever recall being before. So, he did what any sane man would do.

He first looked out the window to see that, yes, it was still raining, checked a clock (0200), and went downstairs to his kitchen to get a beer.

The light of the refrigerator was enough for Souji to see the wrinkles around the younger man's eyes, and the slight depression in the right side of his throat every time he inhaled. "Dude," he tried to inform him of his condition as gently as he could. "You look like shit."

Shinji removed the bottlecap with his teeth and spat it into the trash. "How should I look, Seta?" He drained half the bottle in one gulp. "I lost my arm, can't regenerate, half my right lung is scar tissue, the remains of my father's soul are starting to slip through the cracks of the cage in my soul, and I have a second's worth of omniscience running around in my head. How am I supposed to get the kind of support I'll need from the people when I can't even do a pushup?"

"The public loves an underdog?" he suggested. "Sorry kid, but I really don't know what to tell you other than to deal with it. You're strong, smart, and have a talent for turning a situation around. You're one of the only people in the world I respect enough to follow orders from, and you made the very _soul_ of an Angel into a weapon. You can either keep your damn head on straight, or I'll kick your damned ass until you start acting like a leader again."

Shinji blinked and looked at the older man. "Seta, don't try to start one of your Social Links with me, I don't think it's something that could possibly end well."

"I'll be sure to cut off your balls if I start hearing the spooky voices again, that should be enough to undo it."

"It means a lot to me that you're willing to go so far to prevent any changes in our relationship." Souji grinned. "Now why are you still awake?"

"It turns out that being forced to accept every negative aspect of yourself when your superpower is dependent on hiding them doesn't do good things when you already have insomnia. You?"

"Too scared of not being in conscious control of my body with the Seal as damaged as it is."

"At least tell me you've gotten something useful aside from jumpstarting the soul-muscles that make your AT-Field work." Shinji grinned as his fingernails turned blue and extended a few inches. "So you have a woman's hand." The blue material coating his fingernails spread to cover his entire hand as he finished his bottle, walked to the trashcan, and crushed the bottle above the container.

He returned to the table and showed Souji his unscratched hand.

"Nice trick. Crystalized Mag?"

"Yep. Still not sure how well it'll hold up against the shit we have to deal with, but it doesn't take much effort to manifest. Should be able to coat my entire body within a minute."

"But why bother with armor when you can use the AT-Field as a barrier?"

"Seta, what would the public be more accepting of; a magic barrier, or something that could be passed off as experimental body armor?"

"Good point," he acquiesced.

"And besides, this way I can still work on removing the enemy field without as large a reduction in defensive capability. It's not like I can't die."

Souji finished his soda, tossing the bottle across the room. "Well, try to do something to relax at least, if you aren't going to sleep. Like you just said, you're not immortal, and you'll still get fatigued."

"Good point. Maybe I'll stop and see Rei."

Souji's head dropped to the table. No way was he getting any sleep tonight.

* * *

A slight knock roused Shinji from his semiconscious state. A snap of his fingers brought forth his father's sword and lit a dozen candles that lined the room, the light illuminating his muscled chest as he sprang from the mattress. His eyes quickly ran along the room; his desk, the candles, Juuchi Yosamu, and noticing the unseasonable chill. By the time a second knock had followed the first, he was standing beside the large metal ring in the center of the room and watching as the mix of brass, silver, iron, and other such materials began to frost over.

He slammed the side of the sword against his back, bit into his thumb, and flicked some blood into the center before running the digit along the circle. Returning his hand to the hilt of the oversized weapon, he intoned, "Come forth," to whatever creature was seeking an audience with him. Shinji felt the air begin to grow dry as moisture rushed to within the circle, and watched as black lightning began strike at his blood.

A black substance appeared within the circle, expanding into a large ball. Four tendrils shot out from the sphere, one on the right and left sides forming hands at the end, and two along the bottom pushing the sphere into the air. Purple shoes formed along the ends of the bottom two as a collar formed along the top with triangular strips forming a circle as another sphere formed atop the first, a purple snowcap with two hornlike tips protruding from it and a blue rose on the front forming atop the sphere. Bits of the black substance fell away forming eyes and a mouth, and two white fangs appeared over the red abyss within.

The Black Frost casually threw its considerable mass forward, bounced off an invisible wall, and falling to the floor within the circle. "W-wha?" it spluttered.

Confident in the security the circle provided him with, Shinji relaxed his stance. "What's a Frost like you doing in a hot place like the human world?"

"Are you hee-lly Minato Kuzuhoha the thir-hee fifth?"

Shinji sighed. The name itself was already painting a bull's-eye on his head for the crap-bearing planes above. He nodded.

For a moment, Shinji could have sworn the demon's eyes were glowing with something _other_ than the unholy red light animating the snow/Mag hybrid body. "I saw what you did to-ho that man yesterday and… hee-um was ho wondering if ho… I could… hee…"

Shinji sighed again. "Just spit it out."

"Ho… work for you… ho?"

Shinji quickly ran through all the information he had on this particular type of demon. Capable of using fire, ice, darkness, and healing magic, immune to curses, fire, ice, light, and dark magic, and great physical strength. Large and powerful entities resulting from forcing a Jack Frost to acknowledge its nature as a demon. Constantly existing in a Trigger-like state that allowed ordinary humans to see it, but usually dismissed due to poor light, exhaustion, or whatever other lies the human who was forced to confront something it didn't understand told itself. A valuable ally, if kept under control.

"…Fine. What am I supposed to call you? It's not like I can just go around addressing you as the Black Frost."

The demon's features nearly lit up with joy as it introduced itself.

"You're kidding me, right?"

It shook its head.

Shinji sighed for the third time in as many minutes as a thought occurred to him. "I don't suppose you happen to have run across a Jack Frost calling itself Raiho?"

The demon just froze for a moment, in a way impossible for any mortal being to. "No-ho."

A fourth sigh. "Whatever." Shinji opened the circle for the demon with a snap of his fingers, wincing as its hat threatened to knock his light fixture from the ceiling. "Is there any way for you to be… smaller?"

The massive demon thought for a moment before falling forward, pieces of its body falling apart and swirling around Shinji, coming to a rest in a smaller version of its hat, snugly fitted on Shinji's head. "Will that hee-work sir?"

Shinji returned to his bed. "That'll be fine."

* * *

Gouto the soaking wet cat stared in shock as Shinji ducked beneath a floating blue shelf and threw an egg at Souji. The Persona User cracked it open over a bowl and tossed a bottle of mustard behind him without looking. The shelf containing what _might _have been the remains of a pig trembled for a moment as the bottle popped open, a small amount trickling onto the slab of bloody meat before Shinji.

"I'm glad to see you're using the unparalleled knowledge you gained from a multidimensional being on another plane of existence productively," he said dryly. He looked carefully around the kitchen. "What's with all the meat? I thought Ayanami's file said she was a vegetarian?"

Sliding his pile of meat into an alchemically constructed oven, Shinji answered him. "You remember what it was like, the pull on your soul every time you summoned even a single demon, Gouto?" The former man nodded. "That was the demons bound to you drawing Mag out of your soul, as you should know by now. But think about what it was like for _them_. A life of either nothingness or battle, and all of your nutrients being given to you by an IV. I make food for Alice because it makes her able to still feel like a living being. It's still a steady drain on my own soul, but it gives her peace of mind. Think of the food as being like chewing gum while on the IV. Certain foods have a better effect than others, meat works best. And besides," he added "anything that can help restore the soul, good food, good music, great sex, whatever; it can also speed the regeneration rate of Mag."

With that information, Gouto was finally able to figure out why Shinji seemed to consume such unnatural quantities of food when he could survive alone off what he gained from demons he killed: the kid contracted _Alice _when he was only twelve, and she'd been draining him for _every second_ since. Add in Rei and Karina and… "What's with the hat?"

Shinji glanced up for a moment before removing the cap and tossing it over Gouto into the living room, where the rest of Minaho formed with the same chill as last night (or morning, rather). "Came through my ring last night. Wanted a job. Gave it to him."

… and a Black Frost. If they couldn't get Pizza Hut to support the rebellion, the boy could eat through the entire country's defense budget for the year by the end of the month.

Souji looked up from his row of omelets and noticed that the cat was soaking wet. "Shouldn't you be complaining a little more?" he asked. "Or hissing or… something?" Water was pooling onto the tiled floor now.

"Not _everything_ with a feline body reacts with mind-numbing anger at being wet," he countered. "The rain felt…" he searched for the right word. "Nice."

Shinji looked at his stove and tossed a pair of fried pork chops just over Gouto's reach, as hard as he tried, into Minaho's mouth. The demon looked down at Gouto.

The cat gulped.

And then he ran.

Shinji heard a click and shouted out, "Naoto, don't shoot my new friend. Minaho, don't eat my great-great-whatever."

"… may I hee have an-ho-ther pork chop?"

* * *

The sight of a one-armed teenager eating twice his body mass was… unsettling, for some of the people who saw it. That's likely why there was enough for Rei and Alice to have eaten as much as they had.

Minaho was disappointed by the lack of leftovers.

Gouto was given a burned egg.

The doorbell rang.

Shinji stood. "That should be Aida. Rei, please fetch a towel and tell him to meet me in the office." Minaho became a hat again as he left.

"Can't believe it's _still_ raining."

"Think you overdid it a bit?"

"It's not my fault! There must have been a storm coming in anyway or something."

'_Still,'_ Rei thought, _'the rain hasn't stopped for over a week now. Certain parts of the city have become inaccessible.'_ She opened the well-worn wooden door to see one of her (former?) classmates standing with a yellow umbrella. "Aida-san."

"S-so, this is the r-right place?" he managed to ask through a nervous stutter.

Rei tossed the towel into his face. "Dry yourself and follow me."

Kensuke left his umbrella leaning against the door, drying himself as best he could as he followed Rei up a set of stairs to the platform overlooking the room, down a hall, down three flights of stairs, and through the sixth door on the left. As the rooms grew darker, Kensuke grew increasingly more nervous, looking at the glowing runes along the floor and walls out of the corners of his eyes. Then he looked forward and lost himself staring at Rei's tiny skirt, hoping for a breeze.

When Rei stopped before a door at the end of yet another hallway, Kensuke attempted to adjust his pants discreetly. "He's waiting through here." A quick glance revealed that the teen hadn't done as good a job as he'd hoped. "Why don't you come see _me_ when you're done here?" Her hand gently trailed over his groin as she left, leaving him trembling in a mix of pleasure and shock.

His face flushed, Kensuke turned and watched as the sex demon sauntered off. Distracted by the, admittedly fine, sight, he failed to notice Shinji open the door behind him. "I know what you're thing, and I'm going to tell you now; _Don't._" Kensuke yelped as he turned to see the white-haired young man standing over him. "Unless you happen to have both a _very_ strong anchor in your soul and a fireproof crotch; that would be one of the _dumbest_ things you could _possibly_ do." Shinji was met with an uncomprehending stare. "Say it with me, kid. Soul."

"Soul," he repeated.

"Stealing."

"Stealing."

"Sex Demon."

"Sex Demon."

"That will set your dick on fire as she _kills_ you."

Kensuke finally blinked. "Seriously? But you-"

Shinji cut him off with a snap of his fingers. A small blue flame appeared on the tip of his thumb, expanding into a sphere the size of a baseball, which he then shoved down his own throat. A small cough sent out a puff of smoke. "Are immune to flame; and you have no idea how happy that makes me."

Before Kensuke could ask how something like that could be possible, a young woman's scream echoed down from above.

"Sorry, afraid I'll have to delay our meeting." He took off down the hall.

"Wha-"

Shinji rushed back to him, grabbing the smaller boy by the collar. "Actually, you better come with me. Might be useful, might keep you from setting off something down here you shouldn't."

As he was dragged up a flight of stairs, Kensuke couldn't help voicing a thought. "Why do we have to walk up three floors then down a fourth to go up two?"

Shinji groaned in frustration. "Because I made a typo when I made this place grow, now shut up!"

Lacking the proper background education to understand what he meant by a typo, the boy did as he was told.

Shinji let him slide across the wooden floor as he dropped to one knee by Rei's side, examining her bleeding foot.

That wasn't healing.

In fact, it seemed as if some kind of acid was eating _up_ through her leg.

"What happened? Why isn't anyone healing her?"

"You don't think we tried?" Yosuke shouted. "Watch. Susano-O!" The storm god pointed at Rei and a blue light appeared over her leg, and the destruction of her leg seemed to stop for a moment. As soon as the light faded, her leg continued to fall apart.

"Damnit." _'Don't be what I think it is don't be what I think it is…'_ "Rei. Rei. I need you to tell me what happened."

He turned her head to look at her. Pupil dilation, veins in the eyes swelling, temperature was dropping. "It hurts…"

Shinji looked up at the sound of a cat groaning to see that Gouto was pinned to the floor by Alice's foot, a towel between his back and her foot. "She stepped in that puddle this bastard left. The three of us haven't been out in this rain. And before you ask, I checked the water in his fur just now. It is."

Shinji cursed. "Fucking arrogant, intrusive, interfering, holier-than-thou bastards."

"What?" Souji asked.

"Holy water." Nothing left but a puddle of iron, carbon, and traces of other elements beneath her right knee. His right hand began to glow. "I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt." He jabbed his hand down, slicing through her thigh. _'Work quickly. Null the blessing on the water with Mudo. Alchemically separate the excess H2O. Recreate leg. Fuse to torso with heat.'_ He bit into his thumb. _'Reconnect nerves with blood runes. Restart with Zio.'_ "Alice, copies of every rune I know are in the office. There's one set to open a direct path to the Gouma-den, there's a vial of my blood in the third drawer from the top on the left side. Amagi, keep pushing diarahans until she has a portal open. The rest of you, get ready to kill the thing I'm about to knock out of the sky." He turned to the stairs so he could retrieve his equipment.

He pulled a phone out of his pocket and started dialing a number. "And someone dry the damn floor!"

* * *

"Captain, there is an Angel above Tokyo-3. It's been using the clouds to hide from the censors, and raining down a substance that will dissolve the Evangelion units. Rei is incapacitated. My team will engage the target on foot."

"[And what about the civilian casualties that will incur?]"

Shinji shoved his grandfather's sword through his belt loop as he answered, "Just tell your people to focus all the scanners straight up. The holier-than-thou bastard will be clear as the daylight we haven't seen for a week once I get the clouds out of the way. That'll get the alarms running." He cut the connection on his phone, tossing it aside as he raised his hand to the sky.

His window was blown open as the air shimmered, water being bounced off a rising orange dome spreading over the city. "Come on… further… further… There!" The clouds themselves were pushed aside, revealing the monstrosity floating above the city.

The creature floated above the city, refusing to stopped in its will by simple things as universal laws, the thing should have collapsed under its own mass. Eight legs came from the red sphere, each covered with crimson hairs and thrice the length of the body of the creature. But the most horrifying thing was the creature's body, covered with blue irises amidst pools of sickly green. As the clouds beneath it separated, all of its enormous eyes focused on a single point below:

One Shinji Ikari.

"I spy with my little eye..."


	17. Enter the 'Special People'

She raised her head as his soul brushed over her. To merely sense such a thing at all was an accomplishment on her part, but there was something that just seemed… wrong. The feeling of another being's soul, bare in all its glory; and the closest comparison she could find was of a finely-crafted frame placed around a blank canvas.

The sheer wrongness of the feeling was quickly washed away and forgotten as a sense of awe toward the one claiming this place as _his _replaced it. She looked out her window to see daylight for the first time in a week as her hand tenderly caressed her shotgun.

He was out again. She might finally see the Savior those around her denied, despite being right in front of them.

Though it was the first time she had felt him in such a way, she held no doubts as to who it was standing beneath that monstrosity, standing to defend humanity against something it could not possibly comprehend. Or, more accurately, something humanity as a whole would _refuse_ to comprehend.

"Shinji… Ikari."

* * *

Shinji jumped from the platform of energy he'd created in the sky, ready to deliver a flaming haymaker right in the center of one of the Angel of Rain's many eyes. Kicking off another temporary platform, he dodged a sweep from one of the limbs, slamming his fist towards the Holy monstrosity.

As a shimmering white sheet formed in front of his fist and gravity took hold, he remembered the one crucial detail he'd forgotten when fighting such entities.

The glowing dome over the city collapsed as Shinji saw the eye now directly above him seem to grow watery, as if it were going to cry.

Shinji drew as deep a breath as he could from the thin air around him before creating a vacuum to pull him out of the path of a torrent of holy water. As he landed on a newly constructed platform, panting for breath, he felt something brush against the edge of his soul.

He ignored the distraction in favor of jumping along a series of platforms to strike at one of the Angel's legs with Shamshel, then mentally berating himself for forgetting to negate the AT-Field. He dropped from the platform to evade another leg, propelling himself out of the path of another stream of holy water with a near instantaneous heating of the air to his side.

He landed on another hastily created platform, directly in line with one of the Angel's eyes, wobbling for a moment before regaining his balance. "Fuck… this." He took a deep breath, moved his palm to face the Angel, and pushed with his AT-Field. A ray of pure energy, the light reflecting as a series of shining octagons, slammed into the creature's side and wiped away its AT-Field. The two closest legs of the creature were crushed as it was knocked out of the sky, falling straight toward the center of the city.

Watching as the creature fell down to the center of population, Shinji couldn't help but sigh in shame toward himself for what he was about to resort to. Giant monstrosity with a far lesser degree of power, but outmatching him in size, physical strength, and capable of using things that could end him with a simple touch.

His fingers drummed against the hilt of the sword at his side. "Forcibly pushed beyond my limits…"

* * *

"Go for the eye Souji!" Naoto shouted as her Persona's sword cut into the Angel's newly reformed leg.

As Thor batted away the leg about to crush him, Souji shouted back "Which one?"

Yamato-Takeru fired a Megidolaon, burning a hole in the giant's leg before unleashing a series of slashes on the eye behind it, fading away as liquid began pouring out of the bloody socket. "Whichever one you can!"

"IZANAGI!" Lightning surged from the tip of the Persona's weapon, reducing one of the aforementioned targets to a spilling pool of blood. Despite the deafening cry of pain as it fell back, Souji couldn't help but smile for a reason completely unrelated to the expensive German car the Angel crushed. Really. No issues with parents that were rarely at home with their son being worked off by seeing a monstrosity like the one in front of him destroy nice things.

However, he was concerned when he saw the sudden loss of light that was being caused by rapidly forming clouds.

"Naoto!" he called out. "Given that our souls now have the blood of Angels staining them, I find myself suddenly concerned about the effects of holy water."

She fired a few shots into an eye of the rising creature before answering his question with one of her own. "Are you suggesting that we engage in that oldest and most effective of our methods of dealing with things that we are unsure of the lethality of?"

Panting from the exertion of using his Personae, Souji gave a nervous smile as he stood beside her. "Yep." They each put one foot forward…

Pivoted on it, and ran like holy hell was chasing them while throwing the magical equivalent of a bag of grenades in the general rear direction.

Although, they couldn't resisting turning back to look when they smelled barbeque.

As the other Persona Users and the otaku finally caught up to them, they saw the smoking hole in the top of the creature, a perfect match for the other one pouring out blood.

The blue crystal covering Shinji's skin moved to accommodate his smile as Angel blood poured over him. Making a few random motions to be sure he hadn't lost any capability in his hand, he commented, "I think I forgot something." He sent Shamshel back into the bloody wound he'd created with his fall and ripped Juuchi Musamu from where he'd stabbed the Angel.

His grin grew as the weapon fell into his hand. "Matarel, also called Matariel. Identified in rabbinic lore as one of the Angels of Rain. I'm really disappointed in you, getting taken down by something so minor as a burning crystallized man tearing through your body and keeping you from regenerating." He gestured to the city with his sword. "Is this really all you have to offer?"

Holy Wrath became obvious in every one of Matarel's remaining eyes, just before the holy water began to fall from the sky.

Shinji chuckled as the blessed water bounced off the Magnetite encasing his body. "Come on, water? Really? Now I'm just offended." He snapped his fingers, and the water around him became a fog of steam.

Masked from the Angel's sight, he approached.

"Did you really think something like holy water would actually harm me, little Angel of the Rain?" He knelt down to a puddle, forcing the blade into the street before scooping up some holy water in his hand. "I ate Sachiel _alive_. Did you know him? Know what he was the Angel _of_? No?" He removed the Magnetite coating from his skin, and allowed the blessed liquid to swish around in his bare hand before pouring it down his throat. "Angel of _Water._" He laughed as the Angel began to writhe in fear. "That is the power of the one your Lord has sent you to fight, the power to take of mine enemies and craft weapons and power from their remains." He took a moment to be sure of his target's location before lifting his sword. "Now, little Angel, fall from the infinite 'love' of your God. Fall, and feel the dominance of the one you were sent to die at the hand of."

"Agi-" he readied the cursed sword "-lao-" as flames began to build around his arm "-dyne" and thrust it forward, a column of blue fire twice as thick as a large man's torso shooting straight through Matarel's form. Shinji's grin only grew as he heard a distinct _crack_ quickly followed by an otherworldly shriek.

As the Angel's body collapsed into blood before him, he snuffed out his burning column before sheathing his blade and extended his open hand to the white sphere of light above. The remnants of Matarel's soul flew toward his hand, which firmly gripped it as the young man looked down upon his prize.

He crushed it, chuckling to himself as a blue specked white cloak formed over his shoulders. The randomly arranged blue dots began to glow as he focused on the cloak. Shinji looked at the blood drenched streets. "Let's see what this thing can do."

* * *

Shinji looked at the soaked humans.

Amidst several shivers, towels, and requests for dry clothes, they looked back.

"Sorry?"

"Don't bother apologizing Shinji," Alice told him. "They really should have started to set up barriers for any physical, mental, magical, or emotional damage you could have possibly inflicted the second they saw you had a new toy."

Chie glared at the little English devil. "Doesn't mean he gets to soak us all trying to wash away a few thousand gallons of blood…" It hadn't even gotten it out of the city; just spread it out along the streets.

"I said I was sorry! I even sent you over to the one guy I knew who'd been around long enough gathered up articles of clothing for men, women, or any combination of the above."

Souji's voice was muffled by the towel over his face, held in place by the irritatingly dry Rise. "What was that?" she asked.

"I said, I'd be a little more thankful for that if the guy wasn't off doing something else."

"Saving Rei's leg," Shinji reminded him. "And I happen to like that leg. Especially the fourth toe." The bleach-haired virgin inched away from the cloaked teen. The others followed suit. "What?"

Aida looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it just before Victor came in through the lounges sliding metal door. "Kuzunoha!" he saw Naoto toweling her hair. "s," he added.

"I see you've heard. Thanks for coming to cheer me on, by the way."

Victor grunted in response. "You won anyway."

Shinji knew the man well enough not to expect anything more in the way of congratulations. "How's Rei?"

"Rei?" he asked. "Oh yes, the Lilithian construct you brought in before and managed to injure. Perfectly fine, though there may be problems with the leg until she readjusts to it. Better than any demon that stepped into holy water has any right to be though, honestly. Brilliant work, by the way. Using magic to undo the blessing, then alchemically recreating the leg purely as a construct similar to a human limb without the soul, then reattaching with magic. Never seen anything like it. I'd love to run a fe-"

"Victor, I put up with a lot from you," Shinji cut him off. "The less than moral experiments you've run, the fact that as soon as I die you'll likely be on the scene to dissect my corpse, your tendency to think of demons as lab rats, but I will Not tolerate any experiments being done on me and mine. And if you refer to Rei as a 'construct' again, I will End you, no matter how irreplaceable you feel you are. Am I clear?"

Victor's only response to the death threat was a sulky "yes."

Shinji's arm jerked slightly, as if he were going to clap, before remembering he couldn't do that any more. He sighed, looking at the lonely hand hanging in the air. "I assume your OR is still where it was?" He began walking down the hall Victor had entered through, and almost immediately fell from the ceiling of the room he just left. As he disentangled himself from Souji, he said, "I'll assume that's a no."

* * *

Shinji found himself blinking at the room, taking notice of Rei asleep on the bed and Amagi looking up from a chair. His eyes began tracing the lines that covered nearly every surface in the room, finally settling on the hand-sized circle on the wall just beside the entrance. "Hmmmmmmmmm," he hmed as he ran through the configurations. "This is a premade limited area but all encompassing Traesto array, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Victor answered. "Normally, Traesto can only move living beings and whatever they can carry. This is the largest attempt on this scale to transport something this size entirely with an array."

"Ah," Shinji realized. "You want me to see if your design works. What do I get out of it?"

Victor pointed to a door opposite to the one the group had entered through. "You get a standing, no interference, no energy input required, one way door to the Gouma-Den, able to be keyed to any individual's DNA."

"Key to your place, got it." It would be much easier than picking the lock as he'd instructed Alice or waiting for the man to open his door as when 'liberating' Rei from NERV. "Victor, out; everyone else, in."

Once the people in the hall filled in and Victor had shut the door behind him, Shinji bit into his thumb to draw blood, placing it in the circle to activate the rune.

A few small sparks shot out, but there was no other noticeable effect. "I don't think it worked."

Shinji flipped Kanji off as he walked into his home to find his atlas.

Upon finding the book sitting on his desk, he saw it was bookmarked on the exact page he would need by a laminated note card.

Handle the meeting with NERV immediately, and be sure to arrive on the grounds of the Shrine at 17:55 _exactly_ tomorrow. Allow yourself one week to conclude business, you will find medical supplies in the sixth basement of Raidou XIV's old Training Hall. 

He sighed as he read it, digging through his pocket to find a matching note card, also laminated, in the same font.

Eating Sachiel made you both immune to holy water.

He turned it over to the side that with a magnet glued to it.

Enjoy your new toy.

It had been written before taking the Angel's soul. Okay, he'd gotten a message from something with prescience. Someone was manipulating him, and that someone was privy to information that more likely than not he couldn't ignore. Certain entities, such as Odin, actively manipulated mortals to prevent cataclysmic events such as Ragnarok, running thousands of mortals along seemingly unconnected paths that would at least delay an apocalyptic prophecy.

"Damn." He looked out his window; sure that he'd just seen someone round a corner down a street.

Once he'd figured out how to get to Shinoda on the outskirts of Old Tokyo, Shinji made a call to a number he'd been sure to get from Misato the day before. "Authorization: Iota. Access code: Revelation." He paused as he waited for the connection to go through.

* * *

Maya Ibuki flinched as the head of Project E harshly ordered, "Play it again." Typing in the requisite commands, a video of the battle between Shinji Ikari and Matarel began playing on screen again. She watched and listened as her sempai's breathing grew more forced, and the vein in her forehead continued to throb. Dr. Akagi was starting to scare her, almost as much as that… _thing_ that ripped its way through the Angel in a flaming ball from the sky and destroyed the core with fire from its sword.

Just before the blonde could order another repetition of her order, the screen switched to a black backdrop with the red letters** SOUND ONLY** clearly displayed.

"_Gendo Ikari," _the voice began. _"I'm afraid that the negotiation of terms between our organizations must occur Now. I ask politely that you come to the Blue Rose now, that I may take advantage of an expected reprieve following this incident. Should you refuse, I will have no option but to disclose the nature of the Evangelions to the general public."_

The window disappeared, returning to the video clip Akagi had been reviewing. Maya watched as her sempai began twitching.

* * *

Shinji found a copy of a bus schedule taped to the back of his office door, confirming that he would need to leave in five minutes in order to meet the specified deadline, he prepared to write out a list of things for Naoto to open her negotiation with, along with a list of things that would be absolutely necessary to gain.

As he removed a wallet from a drawer in his desk, Naoto came in with a sheet of paper. "Oh, good; I needed a sheet of paper." He ripped it from the woman's hand, turning it to see a list with two columns. "Why are you bringing me this?"

"I found it waiting in the printer. I had hoped you would explain it."

Scanning the list, he made a few modifications by hand that would result in the formation of the list he needed to leave with the woman in front of him. "Alright, I need to leave for Shinoda immediately, so you have to handle the negotiations with NERV for me. Probably better that way, since they already think you're my boss." He labeled the two columns. "Just be sure to follow those instructions, and tell Rei to go to school if it opens up again while I'm gone. But only if she can run. Bye."

Standing in place as the young man jumped out his own window, Naoto had to admit the kid ran fast for someone who weighed over half a ton.

* * *

'_**Wakey wakey, welcome to radioactive bumfuck, Japan; formerly known as Tokyo.'**_

Such comments from the Maddening demon had been growing more common since the Seal was damaged. Shinji would have to take care of that once he could regenerate again. He checked a clock as he left the near-empty station, seeing that he still had an hour to make his way up the trail North of the train, just within the safe zone to the radioactive remains of Tokyo to the East.

The trail itself was much as the records indicated, though significantly damaged from a lack of maintenance after the damage the region sustained during the Resource War. He sighed to himself. This would, more likely than not, simply be some kami wanting him to have his (perhaps justifiably) large ego. Perhaps he should start by finding some kind of cottage or something; it wouldn't be unprecedented to find a being of great power living a quaint little life in the countryside, indistinguishable from a human being doing the same.

He sighed again. An insistence on playing games like these was one of the many issues he had with most deities.

* * *

A hooded man with a white cloak over his blue shirt and slacks waved his hand, watching as the ground before him moved aside and a coffin rose, stopping just high enough to block out the name on the tombstone.

_Naoya Toudou_

* * *

"How could you have just left him to die?" a brown haired woman shouted at the college-age girl she'd knocked to the floor.

A woman in a jacket matching her curly shoulder-length blue hair looked on impassively. "Naoya-kun knew what he was getting into. And by her account," she added, "_he_ was the one to leave _her_ alone, and probably saved her life doing so." Yukino Mayazumi had grown cold in the 13 years since _Coolest_ magazine went under.

Tears brimming in her eyes, Maki Sonomura ran to the room she'd shared with him in the back of the log cabin.

Yukino sighed. "You should probably leave for awhile," she told Marina. There should be some supplies left downhill in the shrine."

Still depressed at her perceived failure, Marina quietly turned and left without even grabbing a bag or weapon.

She'd realized the foolishness of her decision only a moment before hearing someone behind her.

"Who's there?" she demanded.

She heard a sigh of disappointment as a black haired girl came through the foliage. "I was sure you'd remember me. After all, we had such a nice chat last time."

Marina gulped. That little 'chat' left her scared, confused, physically broken, and probably also either comatose or dead if it hadn't been for the intervention of Naoya and that friend of his. She clenched a fist. Still, that had been three years ago, she was a lot stronger, and unlike last time, she wasn't-

"Tch, guess she hasn't changed at all. Too bad, power like yours is rare even among us 'Special People'."

-outnumbered. "Damn," she swore as a man dressed in jeans and a black sweater came from behind her.

The man pulled a pill bottle out of his pocket, swallowing a pair before saying, "No sense in letting all that potential keep going to waste with someone like you." While Marina's attention was focused on the new arrival, she heard the woman behind her sigh. As she looked between the two and saw the glow in their eyes, Marina realized she was once again in the unfortunate situation of being surrounded, alone, and probably overpowered.

She grit her teeth as the two simultaneously spoke one word she _really_ didn't want to hear. "Persona."

"Fucking _lovely_."

* * *

Given the circumstances, Shinji normally would have ignored the single explosion in the distance. However, circumstances far from normal. For one, the explosion had started a fire, not something he would need to be concerned about. There was also the nagging issue of not knowing anywhere else where he could summon a Herald, and he doubted the ritual would work if the shrine was burned to the ground. Adding in the fact that something more knowledgeable about the current events than he had sent him to this location, there was a slim chance this was something that the universe obligated him to do.

Were even a single of the those things not a factor, he would not have been in a position that allowed him to catch a bleeding twenty-three year old that had nearly been beaten unconscious. He looked down at what he was sure was a very pretty face past the cuts and swelling, then looked into the burning woods. "This is the part where you idiots come out and get your asses kicked by the unbelievably handsome young man with _amazing_ hair."

The man in black came out of the flames, quickly followed by the black haired young girl.

Shinji merely raised an eyebrow at the floating, spectral creatures behind each. "You poor kids don't know what you're about to get into, do you?"

The man sneered. "You're the one making a bad choice here, brat. I'm in a charitable mood, so I'll tell you once: leave the bitch, and run away."

Shinji chuckled, amused at the poor human. "You know, you should follow your own advice. You see, I have no doubt in my mind that you have some kind of stupid little plan to use unholy powers to accomplish what I'm sure you think to be a truly noble goal. Hell, it might actually be something I could get behind if it didn't apparently involve leaving young women with sick fucks like you." Seeing the two taken aback at this, he asked, "Those ghostly things behind you, those are Personae, aren't they? A physical manifestation of your inner self? Given how twisted they look, I can't help having some morbid fascination at what's going on in your heads." He shook his own for a moment before continuing. "Anyway, since you obviously are unaware of the true gravity of your current situation, allow me to explain it to you: You two seem prepared to defile holy ground in Japan, and I am one of four mortal champions of the kami, Minato Kuzunoha XXXV. I understand if you don't recognize me, I only got this job a couple of days ago. And, given that you probably thought of this as some abandoned little hellhole, I'll be charitable and tell you this once instead of starting right away. **Run.**"

The man in black blinked once before he began to laugh. "Damn, but you can sure put on a show kid." He lost the concentration required to remain afloat, clutching at his stomach without dismissing his blue Persona. "What are you gonna do next, pull a ra-" the laughter abruptly stopped as he felt a burning sensation along his face, grasping at his head while the girl impassively looked on at the cut that had torn a piece of her compatriot's Persona off.

"You're still nowhere near my level," after sniffing the blood on his blade before flicking into the man's face, he added, "damn drug-addict." From further down the hill, Marina was still barely conscious enough for the fact that a human being _couldn't_ move that quickly to register. She hadn't even noticed being put on the ground (though that could easily be explained by the concussion).

The girl floated to the man's side, gently placing one hand against his bleeding cheek as her Persona approached his. Delirious on the ground, the older girl couldn't see why the man's eyes seemed to be widening in fear until the yellow woman with a wolf's head began tearing at the blue Persona, devouring pieces of the man's mind.

The girl grasped her head, seemingly in pain as she fumbled through her pocket for a bottle of pills. Just as she managed to get the lid off, a blood-curling scream erupted from her throat in conjunction with a blue blade coming out of her Persona's stomach. As the two Personae tore at each other to the screams of their masters, Shinji calmly walked towards the pair and beheaded them with a single swing of his giant sword.

The surviving Persona User couldn't help feeling some déjà vu as the white-haired man approached, his sword disappearing in a burst of blue fire.

* * *

Before someone asks: No, before finding a notecard on the side of a building, Shinji had no friggin clue that holy water couldn't hurt him.

Out of curiosity, would you all rather see Shinji's uncle or Jet Alone first?

WiredJunkiee1100: Lucifer and Satan are most definitely separate entities. And even if biblical canon stated otherwise, MegaTen really only needs two different names and descriptions. There's a bit of dialogue in Raidou vs. King Abaddon where a couple of demons bring up the fact that they're the _same God._ And really, the reason Shinji may have seemed weak is because he was dealing with things that were just that damn strong. For a while, at least, he'll either have some nice relaxing mooks or let someone else do it. And yes, Atlus is full of sadists, and it is my personal belief that most of the people who play their games are attempting to deal with latent masochism.

Deep Space Cowgirl: If you thought the holy water was bad, wait till you see what this one paranoid bastard did to his bullets. And, why would I kill Misato? She still hasn't pissed anything off. Though Adam may have something of an interest when he gets moving again.

By the way, good news! No more Angels or Fiends until Dante! Just some Persona using terrorists and a rabbit. And yes, I know Trinity Soul shouldn't happen for another couple of years, but there's been… a new development. Anyone want to guess what got them moving early?


	18. A Week in the Woods

Marina awoke from nightmares full of floating people with monstrosities obeying their every whim. Rather like the real world, actually. As per the instruction that had been beaten into her head after being picked up by Naoya, she began observing what she could of her surroundings.

First thing, she was lying on a cot, staring at wooden beams supporting what she was _fairly_ sure was the ceiling. The room was cold. She was also fairly sure she smelled blood coming up from below. Turning her head, she saw an IV that was hooked into her arm. That explained why her senses seemed dull. She tried sitting up, finding it much more difficult as she noticed the tenderness in her left arm and side. She didn't imagine her face was in much better condition, though she didn't feel any bandages there.

Shifting her efforts to her right arm, she heard an elevator coming up around the time her painkiller addled mind made the connection that having her side as bandaged as it felt meant she wasn't wearing a shirt.

Naturally, the sheet fell as soon as Shinji turned in her direction.

She looked down at herself for a moment before coming to the conclusion that whatever was dripping into her just _might _be adversely affecting her mind. She pulled the needle out and glared at him, her good arm now holding up the sheet.

"Oh, damn," he said halfheartedly. "Even with my own incompetent attempt at what people in some circles might loosely interpret as medical care, you survived." He sighed. "Guess that means this is what it wanted me to do." He leaned his father's sword against the railing and picked a charred piece of flesh from his shirt, tossing it back down the elevator shaft. "Anyway, mind telling me why those two Persona Users wanted you dead?"

Shinji looked directly at her face for the first time since arriving on this level, noticing that she seemed very angry. After a few moments that allowed his brain to reconnect the fact that most people had issues with others seeing them naked (something perfectly understandable to forget, given that he'd spent the last hour clearing out a colony of sex demons on the fourth and fifth levels), he blinked and took in the situation. Attractive young woman wakes up in an unfamiliar place stripped, and a guy covered in blood with more weapons than limbs visible comes in.

Then he saw the card in her hand. "Kali!" As the death goddess flew forth, a blade in each of her four hands, Shinji jumped back into the elevator.

As the Persona followed him in, he spun in the air, using the sheathed Juuchi Musamu to block the blades from above while pinning the others to a wall with one leg each. He grunted at the impact. "Just had to save you, didn't I?" he muttered to himself.

'_**You're still too concerned with your little morals.**_' He heard Vergil laugh. _**'Power is all that is important. Concerning yourself with how it should be used is something not worth dwelling upon until you have it. You aren't strong enough to afford your little moral code.'**_

'_Not the Fucking time.'_ He returned the weapon to its place in his belt loop as the Persona faded. "Alright, let's try another way. I'm Shinji." Probably better not to get into titles or allegiances until he knew more about her.

She sighed, more resigned than reassured. "Sarah Jane Smith."

"Don't insult me."

"Worth a shot," she muttered. "Marina Inoue."

"Is being civil so hard?" he asked with an irritating grin. He looked around for a moment before his grin faltered. _'Where did I leave the bag with the extra clothes? Gah, I'll just transmute a pair of shorts out of the shreds these will inevitably become.'_ He walked over and set up a chair by her bed. "You've clearly confirmed yourself to be a Persona User, and you weren't carrying any form of identification. I need to know if you're with Marebito."

He asked it bluntly enough to be sure the look of outrage on her face was genuine. He was actually kind of impressed at the fact that drugged and injured, she still had the strength to pull him by the collar of his shirt with one hand. "Don't you _dare_ treat us like we're with those fuckers. Because of them, I lost everyone I cared about, had three years of my life _ruined_, and get treated like a goddamned _terrorist _anytime we try and help those sons-of-bitches in the UN! I am an _actual_ Persona User, one of the chosen few examples of humanity granted power by Philemon to keep humanity from _tearing itself apart_ with all its _Goddamned pettiness!_ No, I'm not a part of those anarchistic bastards, but I won't bow down to a bunch of _politicians_ who think they know better. I'll do whatever it takes to keep the people safe, and I'll take down anyone who tries to stop me."

Shinji blinked as he processed the important parts: not with Marebito, not with the UN, part of a group that has attempted to help fight against the group of Persona Using terrorists but mistaken as more of them by the idiots upstairs, her stressing the term 'actual', and willing to fight to protect humanity at any cost. His smile returned. "Inoue-san, I believe I have an offer for you that would be mutually beneficial to us both."

"And what kind of 'offer would that be?" she asked bitterly.

Shinji sighed. "Please don't take such a tone with me. I simply meant that I have the capacity to put an end to your troubles with those old men who control the United Nations."

"What do you mean?"

"So long as you enter my service, I can keep you safe from the United Nations. I also assure you a sense of freedom as long as you remain in the country, as well as a stipend from the Summoner Corps. Any action against you from Marebito would fall within my jurisdiction, and I would eliminate them."

Marina stiffened at that. Actual protection? Being able to sleep on one bed for more than a couple of weeks? "What would I have to do?"

"To my knowledge, nothing you aren't already doing. If I'm able to avoid it, I will avoid calling for your aid, and you will be free to do as you wish. Provided, of course, that you eliminate any troublemaking demons and summoners you come across. You won't have to be anything more than a Good Samaritan for your neighborhood."

"Why?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why would you offer someone like me, a total stranger who's proven to have enemies, your protection?" She'd seen a lot of people, and things that were less than people, who were willing to offer things for a price. But they always, _always,_ had some kind of angle.

For a few moments, Shinji was silent. When she finally thought he wasn't going to answer, he said, "Because I believe in humanity. I have seen what man has been reduced to, and I know that you not only can, but _must_, become more than you are. That you can surpass any limits set, and go beyond any being's control. I want to see you reach your potential, and go further after that. But as for why I would help you, specifically? Because I have a duty to the people I have to uphold."

'_A duty?'_ "Just who are you?"

It was more of a smirk than a smile. "I am a man who was falling from grace the moment of conception. I am a man who will oppose the wills of Gods and Devils alike. I am Minato Kuzunoha XXXV. I am the only son of Vergil, the eldest Son of Sparda. I am Shinji Ikari, and I will never leave humanity to fend for itself as so many 'benevolent' Gods have before." He looked down to see that at some point Marina had passed out.

Oh well. Time to see what 'supplies' were in the sixth basement.

* * *

Shinji looked in disbelief at the 'supplies' he'd been told would be waiting. He reached down and lifted a card sitting atop a grey hunk of metal, blowing the dust off the surface. "I lied," he read, "the good stuff is further down. This should make it easier." He looked at the hunk of metal that was covered with enough dust to make it look _furry_.

He generated his newest Angel, the white cloaking falling over his shoulders with a thought. Willing a single small stream of water to come from one of the many blue dots along the cloak, he watched as the dust was rinsed away to reveal a strange looking white gun. A few moments of inspection revealed several similarities to a Desert Eagle Mark XIX with a ten-inch barrel, though 'Order' was written in elegant script where the serial number should have been, and a guard like that on a sword covering the length of the grip that fit perfectly in his hand.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with a gun?" He tucked the strange gun into his waistband and checked the back of the card. "MAG weapons good. Magnetite?" He pulled the oversized weapon back out, focusing on flowing MAG into the gun. He smiled as he saw his blue magnetite burst out of the guard, forming a nine-inch long crystal beneath the barrel that sharpened into a curved blade just past the tip. He took a moment to admire the weapon. "I think I can work with this."

The gun dissolved in a white light along with a sensation similar to gaining Devil's/Angel's Arms. A flick of his wrist returned the weapon to his grip, _sans_ Magnetite blade.

"I can _definitely_ work with this."

He considered going straight down to get the 'good stuff'. Then he considered the benefit of waiting for someone that could watch his back or, even better, summoning the Herald to get the Diajama lifted. Lastly, he considered the noises coming from his stomach.

Right then. Food, then interrogation, then Herald, then new toys.

Then find out who the Hell sent him here.

Order collapsed in his hand as he went to the elevator. Maybe there'd be some food left in the shrine proper.

* * *

Shinji sighed as looked to his left. A single razor blade was now wedged into the wood, dripping blood after clipping the side of his neck just as his head poked out of the well. "Am I going to have to burn down the forest around the shrine, or will you come out?" Next time he stumbled upon an abandoned stronghold, he was checking the wards and activating all of them that wouldn't inhibit him before anything else. Then he'd look for food, and _then_ he'd involve himself in other people's fights.

Catching a slight movement in the trees as Yukino began moving to a better position, Shinji pulled himself over the wall of the well while pulling out his newest weapon. He forced the woman against a tree by slamming his knee into her gut, the blade hovering just over her heart and her eye looking down the barrel.

Eyeing the blue flame in her hand he'd come to recognize as someone preparing to summon a Persona, he asked, "Marebito or with that woman?"

Her eyes softened for a moment. "Inoue survived then?"

"Yeah." Now that his brain had had the time to catch up to his reflexes, he examined the woman's face more carefully. "Wait a sec. I recognize you. That thing in Tokyo-2 with those North Koreans in '13. You were with those Persona Users, weren't you?"

"How do you know about that?" She was remarkably calm for someone in her position.

Shinji lowered the weapon without dismissing it and removed his knee. "Shinji Ikari. The kid that took down the kappa."

She blinked in recognition. The young man before her was taller, more muscular, lacked the tattoos, was missing an arm, and had a different hair color. But his eyes had that same cold fire to them, the same determination and dissatisfaction with the state of the world.

And it still didn't seem like there was anything behind it.

"Puberty sure hit you hard."

Shinji let out a short chuckle at that. "There was a little more to it than that," he admitted. "But look at you! Still don't look a day over twenty-two. Guess the supernatural powers help with the aging issue." Aside from that Toudou guy, who'd looked middle age by his sophomore year in college, but he pushed himself too hard to be safe. "Except that one guy. What was his name, Toudou?" he asked to be sure. "Where is he anyway? I've been trying to track him down for about a year now."

The look on her face was enough of an answer.

"Damnation. What happened?"

"We were mistaken for a Marebito cell last year. We lost Masao while trying to convince them we weren't, and started to see what you meant about a corrupt system. They didn't care that we weren't with Marebito; just that we wouldn't let ourselves be controlled. After we heard about the challenge to Minato XXXIV, we felt it would be in the best interests of many to eliminate him while weakened from the fight. Instead, the fight dragged on longer than expected and they were nearly caught. Naoya got himself killed to keep from blowing Inoue's cover."

"Who's left and who's in charge?"

"Inoue, I presume, is recuperating from whatever caused that explosion last night. Sonamura has locked herself in a room. Nanjou, ever the pragmatist, sold us out to cover his own ass. I haven't seen any of our other allies since before Impact, but I know at least two of them are still around. Of the three of us, I believe I'm the only one fit for combat. Yourself?"

"Everyone I have authority over is in Tokyo-3, including Raidou XIX, a Black Frost, several other Persona Users, a Shadow, a half-succubus, and Alice."

Yukino blinked. "Alice? _That_ Alice? And how could you have authority over Raidou? That position puts her at the rank of Major in the UNSC!"

"Yes, that Alice. She was actually my first contract. And I outrank cousin Raidou."

'_Cousin?'_

"I killed my grandfather in an official duel before Yatagarasu and took his position. I'm technically one of the things that they're supposed to be fighting against, but I outrank most of them. SEELE can't afford to move against me, because I'm now affiliated with the kami instead of just being some rogue bastard child of a monster." Shinji smiled. "I have too much authority for them to officially move against me, and too much power for anything short of a full and sanctioned assault that would leave the public with a _lot_ of questions to work. Consent between Raidou and myself will also leave your group safe, given our authority to withhold information on joint operations."

"You want us to join up with you?" Yukino asked.

"Yes. I believe Inoue has already consented to do so, though I would advise against attempting to move her for a week."

"What happened to her?"

Order collapsed in his hand as he began moving toward the only building. "I found her in a losing battle against a couple of members of Marebito. Their corpses are over there," he gestured to the woods, "if you think looking over them would help. They didn't have any IDs, and I'm not quite sure where the heads ended up." As he opened the door, he shouted back, "Don't look at me like that. It seemed like a better idea than watching their Personae try to eat each other."

Yukino ignored some of the more obvious questions to ask about the injuries.

"I never got around to picking up much beyond basic first-aid, but she's stable. Cursory examination shows two broken ribs, possibly others cracked, second degree burns along the left leg. The left arm is covered with lacerations, in addition to a few serious sprains present throughout the body. Several small cuts and a few bruises on the head and torso. She may have also had a concussion, but I took care of that with a lifestone. A week on dias and amritas should get her moving, but someone who actually knows the limits of a human body should be the one making that decision."

Yukino nodded. "We know someone. I'll call her later. What now?"

"Find something that'll pass for breakfast. Then I need to activate this place's wards. After that, I need to summon the Herald."

* * *

It came as a great shock to Shinji when the bell rang clearly, as opposed to shattering beneath the still-pristine wooden hammer. He was sure there would be some tedious trek through the woods to find an older shrine with a (somehow) better bell.

He then slapped himself in the face as a substitute for clapping his hands together.

There was no crackle of energy, no darkening of the sky, not even an ominous voice of DOOM coming from beneath the earth. A door on the other side of the bell simply slid open, revealing an unnaturally gray-skinned woman with completely blank eyes, and a dark robe with a hood that covered most of her head.

"_Hello, Minato Kuzunoha XXXV. I must admit, I did not anticipate your arrival so soon. Certainly not here of all places."_

"My apologies, honored Herald. I would prefer to refrain from asking such favor so soon, but-"

"_I have no intention of removing the curse laid upon you in such haste by Sukuna-Hikona. It was foolish of you to attempt to intimidate him, and many kami are already planning how to eliminate you."_

_That_ was rather disturbing, but Shinji hadn't been optimistic enough to hope he could offend someone with the political power of Sukuna-Hikona while only making a single enemy. "That isn't what I was going to ask, I-"

"_I must say, I find you ignorant, hasty, and overall unfit for duty. Had you even a single surviving relative, I would recommend your immediate replacement. However, given that your survival is fully possible without my intervention, I see no reason to aid you."_

"I haven't even made my request yet!" he protested.

"_Nor do I need to. You have consistently proven a potential threat to the universe, and I cannot simply aid you because you _wish _me to."_

The Herald began to close the door.

"Oh, that's _bullshit! _You've aided people trying to do far worse! Fine, if you won't cure me for the sake of it, let's make a deal."

The door stopped moving. _"What are you proposing?"_

"Remove the effects of the diajama, and I will owe you a favor."

The Herald actually _chuckled_. _"A promise to return a single favor? I think not." _She hmm'ed to herself. _"No less than three tasks of my choosing. Swear to fulfill them on the Blood of Sparda, and I will aid you to the limit of my considerable abilities."_

"There are a few reservations to this arrangement I would like to be sure of." The Herald motioned for him to go ahead. "I choose what requests I follow through on. You cannot harm me for refusing any of them, nor to coerce me into agreeing at the start." In making a contract, it was important to ensure oneself every possible protection. For example, a prevention from violent retribution upon conclusion. "You can never sell this contract to another, nor may the terms of it be renegotiated." It was a standard practice among lesser daemons to gain the favor of their Lords by making simple seeming contracts with mortals and then trading them to those who could better exploit it. The Fae were masters of it, though they were thankfully in a decline since Second Impact. "In accordance with these stipulations, I will agree to this Contract."

"_Very well then."_ The Herald moved forward and grabbed his hand, which contained several open wounds by this point, promptly causing Shinji to double-over and gasp in pain. The sensation lasted only a moment before she released his hand, which promptly began regrowing the flesh he had torn loose with his teeth before.

Shinji began wriggling the fingers of the hand, pleased that he no longer needed to worry about such things as infection or losing too much muscle to properly use his hand. It felt good.

"So, what's the first task?" he asked.

"_The details shall reach your 'Blue Rose' at some point. Until then, I would advise you prepare against your new enemies, as well as those you have yet to make."_

The Herald vanished before Shinji could confirm that she meant Marebito. And 'enemies yet to be made'?

He sighed to himself.

First thing was to set up a list of people he had already done something that could end in a war against him, then figure out the most likely candidates from whoever remained.

* * *

Okay, the list of enemies and potential enemies was the second thing. First he had to find Yukino the emergency phone that was now standard on the 3rd basement of all subterranean Kuzunoha facilities. Once he'd gotten it working again, he was able to start on the list.

People that want me dead:

God

SEELE

Marebito

Sukuna-Hikona allied kami

Hell

Heaven

He crossed out God, fully aware of the fact that if there was truly no reason whatsoever left for his continued survival, He could strike Shinji dead where he stood in any number of ways. However, if a less restrained being in Heaven stumbled upon free will (again), it could be a problem.

People that _may_ want me dead:

God (For some reason, survival still important)

NERV

Aesir

Devas

Egyptians

People's Republic of China (Find out why there is a law preventing my entry)

Philemon

Olympians

Nyarlathotep

'_**Why aren't **_**I **_**on any of these lists?'**_

Solely to piss him off, Shinji added the uncle he never met to the second list.

'_**You don't actually know his name, do you?'**_

'_Danny or Denty or… something with a D and an N.'_ Despite his conscious thoughts, he knew the surviving son of the Dark Knight (not Bruce Wayne) was someone to be feared. _Especially _given how many of the rumors about Mallet Island and Temen-Ni-Gru were proven true by the memories of his father. What Shinji alone personally _knew_ to be true was enough to consider that man the most dangerous being in human world.

* * *

A slumped man in a red coat came through the door, his nose twitching at the stench of the room. He lazily waved one hand by his face to ward off the smoke coming from the only other people besides the man behind the counter. He looked at the men shrouded in smoke from their cigars before going to the man with a white cloth in his hand.

Without looking away from the glass he was wiping down, the grey haired man asked the new arrival, "What'll it be?"

"Strawberry sundae," he answered as he slid onto a stool.

The unexpected response was enough to make the man set down the glass and look at the man, noticing the white bangs that covered his eyes. "This is a bar, sir. Not some children's ice cream shop."

"That so." It was a statement more than a question. "Just trying to sweeten the air a little. This place smells like shit. Or blood," he added. With his shoulders hunched down and his hands folded, he told the barkeep, "That's fine with me. Cause I'm actually more interested in this rumor I heard." The man had gone back to cleaning glasses. "I heard there's this bar, somewhere around here, where they're more likely to take your life than cash. Kinda scary."

One of the men took a puff from his cigar before showing his hand with a grimace. Just a pair of sixes.

"Sorry pal," another one mocked.

The man sitting at the bar looked back. "A Royal Straight Flush, huh? Playin something like that's a good way to shorten your life." He seemed to be speaking from experience. By the time the winner responded, the man was already looking away again.

The man flicked his cigarette away before slamming his hands against the table, revealing that he did, in fact, have a Royal Flush in diamonds as he rose. "How bout," he suggested to the man as he turned, "I get everyone a rou-"

_Bang_

The man sitting at the bar was holding a black Colt M1911 over his shoulder, seemingly taking no notice of either the spent casing falling through the air or the trail of blood coming from the new hole in the winner's forehead.

* * *

The man in the loose hooded jacket simpler watched through the entrance to the warehouse as the lady opened a door, revealing a pile of skulls. The rain was making it too difficult to read her lips, but it wouldn't be difficult to guess their conversation. He looked to his right and noticed a pair of men in suits, watching much less discreetly than he.

The blond man adjusted his sunglasses. "C'mon, do I really look like the sort of human being that could possibly do something like _that_?" he asked.

The long, pale legs of the woman could be seen to shift beneath the edge of her tiny miniskirt as she turned and answered, "I don't think you look that human at all." She drew a small pistol from beneath her poncho, firing a round each into his heart and right lung.

A pity those organs were rather superfluous. The man became something less than a man as he grew large enough to tear the clothes he wore to shreds, his body turning into a twisted mockery of humanity. It looked as if the skeleton of an ape had been enlarged and draped with a white canvas, though the two holes with blood pouring out proved that there must have been something resembling a circulatory system if nothing else. Claws sprouted from the tips of each digit, and the demon attempted to crush the woman that had found it out for what it was.

The woman leapt over the incoming limb, throwing her hooded poncho over the demon's head and emptying the gun's clip into the demon from above, not bothering to collect the ruined piece of cloth from the pool of blood the demon collapsed into.

The hooded man now stood in the doorway, whistling either in appreciation of her skill or the fact that she was _hot._ "Not bad at all."

The woman loaded another clip into her pistol before running her hand through her short brown hair. "I don't think I know you well enough to appreciate any critique of my performance that's anything less than perfection."

The man let out a rich laugh that gave the woman enough of a glimpse to know that he was either of Oriental descent or well tanned. "I assure you ma'am, it's very rare for me to offer any critique that does not contain a veiled insult. However, I have other reasons for seeking you out than offering my opinion on your form."

Her hand inconspicuously moved to a position where she could easily draw her second pistol.

The man knelt down and placed a large manila envelope on the floor. "Enclosed you will find an image of the target, his known abilities, and information about the life he has been living. In addition, you will find an initial fee triple your standard rate."

The woman raised the brow above her blue eye. "And what do you think is worth triple my rate solely as an initial fee?"

The man turned to leave. "I'd heard rumors of a Devil Hunter just calling herself Lady, who just happened to have shown up after a certain _incident_ I'm sure neither of us intends to go into detail about. I know of some of the contacts you hold, and I very strongly advise you use the very best of them." He began walking away.

"Why call someone private that you don't think could do the job solo?"

The man kept moving.

"Hey, wait a sec!" She began chasing him, but saw no trace of where he'd gone after turning the corner. Lady turned back to check the envelope, finding a single file, a substantial stack of large sequential bills, and a film reel.

The very best she knew, huh?

* * *

The man in red swiftly slid out of the way as lightning crackled around the seemingly shocked man. A moment after he began to move, the man had become a monster covered in black fur with horns to match. The man dropped to the ground as the demon roared and threw itself into the spot he'd just been in, flipping himself upright as the bar was wrecked.

As broken pieces of wood were knocked toward him, he pulled out a white gun that matched the first as the other two poker players went through the same change as their friend. Devoting one gun to each of them, it was only a few moments before what was left would be more accurately described as connected hunks of flesh than bullet-hole riddled corpses.

The monster that won the poker game charged forward, one claw grabbing at each of his wrists as it bit into the man in red's right shoulder.

He looked impassively at the demon gnawing on his shoulder. "Not bad, Mr. Royal Flush." He glanced at the skylight as he dropped the black gun in his left hand. A large metal sword with a skull on the cross guard landed with the hilt firmly in his left hand.

There was a sickening squelching noise from the creature as the man proved himself more than competent with the blade.

He then went back to the door he'd entered through, stabbing the sword through it with enough force to break the glass window. He pulled it back and allowed the other man's corpse to fall behind him before leaving.

He looked in disgust at his ruined coat. "Next time you open up shop, make sure you put strawberry sundaes on the menu."

The dead man became a fourth demon that rose and charged at the man's back.

He turned around with one of his pistols raised. "Bingo."

_Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang-_

* * *

The woman stood from Marina's cot, which was now concealed from the only entrance to the room by a curtain. "And you're sure that infection isn't a concern here?" she asked as she examined the antique wooden structure.

Yukino nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, ordinarily I'd keep her in a bed for at _least_ a month, but I've seen how quickly you all heal. Most of the injuries should clear up by tomorrow, and she'll be back to her best within a week."

Another scream of pain came from a lower floor as Shinji tore out his sub-optimal lung to make room for a fresh one.

"Are you sure I shouldn't examine him too?"

"I have no doubt that there's something wrong there, but it isn't a medical issue."

The woman nodded. "Goodbye then. I really hope we can meet again under better circumstances." She took the elevator out as Shinji put his shirt back on one floor down.

"So, she'll be alright then?"

Yukino repressed the urge to jump as Shinji repeated his question from behind her. "How did you get here?"

"I jumped," he answered as if it was obvious. He looked around the curtain at the unconscious young woman. "So, just how strong is she?"

"You can't tell?" Yukino asked with a smirk.

"My senses aren't as… _refined_ as you Persona Users. I can tell if someone seems normal, stronger than normal, or if they're a Scary Fucker. Most Persona Users on that scale fit at around stronger than normal, but I know one Scary Fucker."

Yukino sighed. "I've never been too sensitive myself, but Naoya said she could probably end up stronger than him."

"By 'not too sensitive', you mean you don't get as detailed information, right? You can still see basic things like Arcana?" It was only through Souji that he had even the slightest understanding of Arcana as anything beyond something used in fortune telling.

"Yeah, why?"

"What's mine?" He'd asked Souji and Rise on several occasions, but they'd refused to tell him without giving a reason why.

The older woman focused on him. "Lovers. And Emperor." Lovers Arcana. Harmony and Union. Choices made that favor intuition over intellect. Rarely, an internal struggle. Emperor Arcana. Competitiveness, authority, self-control gained through experience. A powerful individual with ambition mixed with an attempt for long term achievement. One of them was probably Vergil.

"Thanks, I'd been wondering about that." The room shook around them.

Marina hissed in her bed as Yukino asked, "Earthquake?"

Shinji was already running for the elevator. "Something broke through the wards!"

* * *

Shinji jumped through the opening that took him out through a well.

He was nuked before his feet hit the ground.

He flipped himself upright in midair, creating a platform to jump out of the path of a lightning bolt as he readied his AT-Field.

Seeing a movement in the trees, Matarel appeared on Shinji's shoulders and fired a stream of water as a giant scorpion with a human face charged at him. Several of the trees hit by the stream were torn out of the ground as Shinji sidestepped one of the Persona's pincers and encased his hand in Magnetite. The stinger darted forward only to be grabbed by a blue claw and was ripped away from the body.

As someone in the trees shrieked in pain at the damage Shinji had done to their mind, a voice cried out "Persona!"

The zweihander Shinji had grown accustomed to using one handed appeared in a burst of blue fire as a solid red man slashed at him from above. Bloodstained bandages covered most of its face, and what they didn't was hidden by a red cap. Shinji couldn't help feeling he'd seen the coat before as lightning began crackling along its sword _'not the TIME!'_

Shinji jumped away just in time, returning the assault by sending drops of water at a speed quick enough to tear through metal. He began searching for the one who'd summoned that thing as it faded away before taking the hit, and swung in the direction of a bush that caught fire and burned the girl behind it alive.

As he completed the swing that sent the wave of fire, he felt a bullet pierce the skin of his wrist and thanked the physical composition that made it impossible for low powered shots to be able to damage his bone or muscle and _'Why did it just _beep_?'_

_BOOM_

* * *

Yukino crushed the card in her hand as she weaved between the trees, Durga smashing enemy Personae as she got in close enough to slit the humans' throats.

She heard the man who shot Shinji. She saw a chance to take him down.

The man in the green sweatsuit ducked beneath her razor, attempting to club her with his pistol before firing into the ground. She jumped away as soon as she heard the beep, being knocked back by the explosion as Shinji tore through the foliage and tried to stab at the man with his own still-reforming bones. "Mind if I cut in?" he asked Yukino.

The man answered before she could. "Be my guest." The man shattered Shinji's AT-Field with a punch that continued into his jaw with enough force to knock him back. As he fell back, Shinji noticed a golden bracelet on his extended wrist.

The strongest human Shinji ever met would have had to at least crack a couple of his knuckles trying that.

He felt another bullet enter his navel as his new right hand hit the ground, allowing him a moment of something resembling balance before his intestines were exposed to the world for the second time today. He generated Order in his hand and fired three rounds into the human's head.

He stumbled back for a moment before three figures burst from his skull. The first was the red man that seemed vaguely familiar. Next was a skeletal man in black robes, carrying a bow, wearing a golden crown atop his head, and riding a white horse. But the one that held Shinji's attention the most was the black figure that kicked him in the face. It looked like a young man missing an arm, wearing a black cloak and holding a black gun with a nine inch knife at the end. Each of them seemed to be surrounded by a blue aura, connected to the unknown man.

As Shinji looked between the blood-soaked god, the First Horseman, and a doppelganger, only one word came to mind.

"Shit." He had a new standard for Scary Fuckers.

The First Horseman of the Apocalypse and the doppelganger opened fire on Shinji as the bloody God charged at Yukino. She jumped back as the Persona cut down a row of trees and shrugged off her jacket as it was set on fire.

Shinji jumped back from a storm of arrows as the doppelganger chased him through the shrine.

He danced around the monster's bullets, moving through the new hole in the old building's wall. The doppelganger chased him inside and was immediately hit in the jaw by a bare burning foot. The Persona spun with the force of the strike and swung the copy of Order in an effort to stab Shinji's neck.

Shinji ducked beneath the blade, slamming his own into his double's thigh and opening fire on its stomach. The gun and his arm up to his elbow were frozen for his trouble as the doppelganger returned his kick with a knee to the nose that sent Shinji sprawling.

Not to be outdone, the Horseman crashed through an intact portion of the wall to trample him. Shinji generated a dome of his own magnetite over himself as the hooves crashed down on him, cracking under the force of impact. An ice-encased gun held in a frozen hand broke through, plunging straight into the horse's chest.

Its skeletal rider attempted to dismount, only to be set ablaze along with his white horse to leave Shinji alone with his doppelganger.

* * *

Yukino winced as her Persona lost a second of its ten arms to the red monstrosity that had been chasing her uphill. Durga opened her mouth to fire a ray of nuclear energy, tearing apart a line of trees.

Yukino smiled before the bloody man came down from the sky.

Durga faded as she summoned Yaksini, the blue-skinned warrior locking both of her blades with the red man's polearm. Yukino saw a tiny blue spark in the hand of the red Persona just before the bolt of lightning tore Yaksini apart. The Persona prepared to strike Yukino down-

-eleven shots slammed into the skull of the red thing. Yukino looked uphill to see Maki fire the last shot in her pistol. The recoil carried her arm up and she threw the pistol over her shoulder before drawing a silver-tipped arrow from the quiver on her back. She took a moment to line up her shot before the shaft flew into the Persona's arm.

* * *

As he was leaving the shrine grounds, the man in the sweatsuit winced as he felt the White Rider die.

"Tch, you think your hot shit?" He put his gun to his temple.

_Bang_

"Haunter of the Dark."

The bloated, bat-like creature's one flaming eye looked uphill to where Shinji was fighting the doppelganger.

He gave the black horror a single mental command.

Kill them all.

* * *

Shinji's head smashed the nose of the doppelganger before it shot Order out of his hand.

Shinji jumped back and felt his heel hit something. He smiled as he glanced down. "You didn't think you could really win, did you?" The Persona's head tilted. "Hell, even a real doppelganger is just a copy of the first impression, and you're not even that!" Shinji kicked the zweihander into the air, grabbing the hilt and stabbing forward.

The copy of Order shattered in its hand and the sword continued through its chest.

"Alright, you seem as heat-resistant as I am, but I doubt that it'll work the other way." Instead of simply generating the energy that would fuel the ring of flame around his wrist, he pulled heat energy from the air around the doppelganger to freeze it in place before pushing forward and reducing it to a puddle of ectoplasm.

Shinji smiled at the puddle just before he was struck by a bloody red tentacle.

Reorienting himself by kicking off a Platform, Shinji grunted as his ribs healed. "Definitely a Scary Fucker." He followed the red tentacle into the shadows of the remaining trees, seeing the bat-demon for what it was. He was smart enough not to speak the true name of the creature. The Haunter of the Dark, the Black Pharaoh, the Crawling Chaos, the Faceless God, the Opposite to Philemon.

Nyarlathotep.

Or at the very least one of its thousand forms.

This day was just getting better and better. Only thing missing was Satan.

Shinji jumped over a Mudoon and fired on the thing that he hoped was a Persona, smiling as it faded away.

The bloody tongue lashed out from a ruined building, tearing open his back and slamming him into the ground with enough force to send him into the second basement of Raidou's poorly lit training hall. In one dark corner of the room, he saw it. A three-lobed burning eye. He pulled himself to his feet as a black mist began to spread through the room.

Drawing what he was fully aware might have been his last breath, Shinji raised his large sword and charged the monster.

As soon as he entered the mist, his foot shattered a weakened section of the floor. Seeing its chance the Haunter of the Dark charged forward while he was waist-deep in the hole, one claw threatening to cut of Shinji's arm while the other simply crashed into his left shoulder with enough force to snap his collarbone. The Faceless God pushed him forward, tearing apart the wooden floor until Shinji was pinned to a wall.

'_THINK YOU STUPID BASTARD!'_ Nyarlathotep, physical manifestation of the negative aspects of the human subconscious, thousand forms, time travel, pass through physical obstacles, worshipped as several different beings, offers power but fails to deliver when trying to enter their bodies in the form of a black mist. The problem was that these only applied to certain individuals, generally without any way to interpret which avatar was which.

"_Daisoujou!"_ a woman's voice cried from below. The preserved monk rose from where Marina sat in her bed and waved a single bony hand in the direction of the Messenger of the Old Ones. Blazing, furious, relentless light filled the room, blinding the humans and disintegrating the Crawling Chaos.

No longer held in place, Shinji fell through the hole that used to be the second basement level's floor down to the third, where he crashed through yet another weakened section of flooring and fell to the fourth, where the process repeated itself to lead him to lying facedown on the fifth level.

Somehow, he wasn't surprised that his collarbone and arm weren't healing. Making sure that he had a path for a straight jump, he leapt to the third floor to find Marina unconscious again but apparently stable. Satisfied that she could be left alone, he found a sturdy part of the floor and jumped with all the force he could, taking him above the forest. Clearly able to see where Maki and Yukino were fighting what he was sure was some mockery of Izanagi, he knew exactly where to aim.

* * *

At Yukino's warning, Maki moved the hell away from the Persona they'd been fighting just before Shinji crashed down right in front of it, his burning foot just narrowly missing it. His arm in no condition to hold a sword, Shinji did the smart thing when the Persona tried to stab him.

He caught the sword in his teeth.

He planted his feet firmly in the ground and lifted the entire Persona by the blade before it began to burn.

When the smoke cleared, he turned to Yukino and the woman he hadn't met. "Hi. I'm Shinji Ikari. Either of you lovely ladies have an Amrita?"

Maki looked at his limp arm, bare feet, torn and bloody rags that once passed for clothes, and his clearly broken collarbone and promptly decided that he was unfit to decide what was necessary. Summoning Verdandi, she began using area-wide healing spells. While Yukino and she quickly recovered from their assorted scrapes and sprains, Shinji simply stood still without so much as a lightening of any bruises on his shoulders. "Why isn't he healing?"

Shinji sighed. "At the moment, a metaphysical compound within my lungs is preventing natural regenerative functions of my body." He looked at his bleeding arm. "It is quite likely that I would bleed out before that substance could be purged naturally, hence the request for an Amrita to be used. Once it's purged, I'll start healing on my own." Maki's mouth was hanging open as she furiously blinked. "Seriously, anytime now." Things started getting blurry for him. "Damnit, don't tell me I have to wait until I've passed out for you to he-"

_Thud_

* * *

Shinji came to lying in a bed in a wooden room. His first reaction was to jump out of the bed, calling up the sword and Matarel.

Naturally, he realized he was naked just as Marina came down in the elevator.

"I'm fully aware of the irony here, but I won't be amused if you attack me when _I'm_ the naked one."

Upon hearing her shriek of rage from the next floor, Maki turned to Yukino. "Did you know that would happen?"

Shinji dismissed the equipment and began walking around the room. "You got any chalk or something?"

"Ch-chalk?" she spluttered. Why wasn't he asking for pants?

"There wouldn't have been enough left of my clothes to make a pair of boxers."

'_Well, maybe a small, tight pair.'_ "You don't exactly seem to mind being naked," she muttered. "Why would chalk help?"

"I don't mind being naked, but it's cold. And warming myself up by copying Johnny Storm in a wooden room seems like a bad idea. So, I'll use chalk to turn my sheets into pants."

'_You certainly don't look cold. And who the hell is Johnny Storm?'_ "Science doesn't work that way."

"Yeah, I'm cheating at reality. Don't tell anyone."

After a few minutes of searching for something usable to no avail, he went to the elevator and went down to the basement.

"Why are we going down?"

Marina made a good effort to keep her eyes above Shinji's waist as he faced her directly. "I found a letter last week that told me to come up here, and when to arrive so I could save your life. Upon going down a few levels in this structure, I found what I suspect could be a very useful weapon once I'm used to it, along with a message that something more valuable was in the lower levels."

"But how would that get you chalk?" Marina asked.

"It doesn't really need to be chalk; anything that I could use to make a clear and defined mark would work."

"I still don't get it."

Shinji sighed. "No one, be they man, woman, Angel, Devil, or God would leave something valuable unguarded. I'll make a transmutation circle out of the guard's blood."

Most people would be freaking out at the thought of making a drawing with something's blood. Most people didn't celebrate their high school graduation by narrowly surviving an assault by Persona using terrorists and subsequently being rescued by a rebel leader and his mysterious white-haired friend who disappeared immediately after she blacked out. "So, you fancy yourself an alchemist?"

"Tch, if I needed a nuke for something, I could make all the material I need out of things you could find in any old shop. Luckily for humanity, I prefer magic and fists over technology for destruction. Easier to fix."

On that note, the elevator reached the bottom floor.

Shinji's head fell into his hand. Marina blinked at the ball of white fibers beside a bottle of blue ink.

Groaning at what he was already sure he would find, Shinji moved forward and found the note.

Why would Minato's equipment be in Raidou's training hall? You have failed a basic test of common sense, and so that gun will be the only thing you win. Now make yourself a pair of pants and go home. We'll play again if you can find your grandfather's toy box.

Shinji tossed the note card over his shoulder and knelt down to draw a circle with ink and his finger. He pulled a few pieces of junk off the floor and placed them in the circle with the fibers, making a pair of white cargo pants. White cloth, white buttons, white zipper.

Marina shielded her eyes with the note card. "A little bright, aren't they?"

Shinji looked down at the shiny white pants. "You think so?"

The glare said yes.

Marina smiled as Shinji removed the pants and squatted down to make a new circle with the ink. He pulled the dark blue pair of pants back on. "Happy?"

Marina was still smiling. "Satisfied."

* * *

Okay, guy that anyone who finished P4 should recognize is running around and has one of Nyarlathotep's Avatars as a Persona, two members of the first group of Persona Users and the P3P female protagonist, and Shinji has new pants. And eventual justification for a certain badass longcoat to show up in Tokyo-3.

Next time: Jet Alone, G Gundam references, rabbits, and skinwalkers.


	19. It's All Kyouji's Fault

Shinji knew something horrible had happened as soon as Tokyo-3 was close enough to see clearly.

At least one third of the city seemed to have been painted blue.

He looked down at his own pair of blue (of a shade that was a perfect match for the buildings) pants with a sigh. "I feel as if something is playing a very cruel joke on me."

Across from him, Marina's head tilted. "Why's that?"

Remembering that most humans couldn't see as well or far as he could, Shinji pulled out a pair of binoculars and handed them to her.

"Huh. You know, a lot of those buildings look the like they're the _exact_ same color as your pants." Comprehension dawned on her face. "Oh."

Shinji's head slammed back. Blood began flowing down his neck soon after the sound of broken glass rang through the car of their train. Fortunately, very few people had any interest in going _to_ Tokyo-3 at the moment.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

"Yes."

* * *

Shinji hoisted off the duties of introducing the new Persona Users onto Yukino and went to his room. He just wanted to sleep in his own bed for awhile. As he looked into his room, he knew that it just couldn't be that easy.

"_REI! WHY is there a Naked Minor TIED to My BED!"_

* * *

After the Rei's (completely willing and now slightly disappointed) welcome-home gift was untied and released into the city, Naoto briefed Shinji on the situation.

"So basically, people heard rumors of what I could do, guessed on a few things, and came to the conclusion that I regenerate because I'm the God of Kinky Sex? And half the student body is trying to get a church in my name built on the school grounds?"

"Yes. Of course, there are several people who disapprove of the very fact that you exist."

"Well, of course. And what do _they_ think I am."

Naoto was silent.

"Are you going to tell me?"

Souji came in with a piece of paper as Naoto remained silent.

Shinji looked at a picture of himself taken on the school grounds with his face covered in blood. There was a caption running beneath it. "Arch-Devil of Kinky Sex," he read.

Head. Table. Thud.

"And now the people have realized that I'm not a part of NERV, and they're divided over whether NERV or myself are the greater evil. People showing support for me are wearing blue, NERV is wearing black and red. That about it?"

Naoto said yes as Souji pulled out a bottle of scotch.

"Okay, I'll need Aida, Gouto, a pixie, and a couple of bugs."

* * *

Hikari Horaki sighed from her position on the couch. One city. Just one city to protect while Raidou XIX and half-a-dozen Persona Users were also in the city. The city that most intelligent demons had begun staying the _Hell_ away from after the first Angel attack.

Within two weeks of His 'debut', the order within the city had begun falling apart and Shinji Ikari was seen as special, if nothing else, by the entire city.

With no way of actually affecting the area short of killing people, she turned on the TV to see static for a moment before a commercial came on.

Great. Something mind-numbingly boring that would nonetheless keep her from thinking about anything else.

A familiar voice came over the screen.

* * *

A picture of Gendo Ikari holding a pistol to a kitten's head appeared on the screen of every TV in Tokyo-3. "Hello people, look at your protector. Now look at me." A video clip of a shirtless white-haired man in black combat boots, navy blue cargo pants, and a white cloak billowing in the wind without uncovering his left side appeared on screen. "Now back at him." Gendo Ikari's head photoshopped onto a rather ugly man in a European Man-Thong. "Now _back_ to _Me_!" Two topless women were now pressing their chests against his sides.

Some people recognized the girl with Shinji's right arm wrapped around her as Rei Ayanami.

"Sadly, he isn't me. _Maybe_ if he got an awesome cloak, dyed his hair, had superpowers, and women could tolerate him for something longer than a one night stand, he could _pretend_ to be me. Look down." The camera turned away from Shinji, zooming in closer and closer to the street below. "Back up." The camera focused on Shinji, who was now on the street. "Where are you?" The camera circled around Shinji, showing the street as it darkened and caught fire. Hideous blobs with fangs, a miniaturized version of Matarel, and a black scale covered (pixilated) replica of male genitalia riding a chariot surrounded him. "You're on a city street, surrounded by **MONSTERS.** With the man You could have protecting you. Look at your hand." He reached behind him. "I have it." A strange white pistol was in his hand. "Just a pistol you say? Look again." He fired straight into the air, putting all the fire and MAG he could into a single beam. "It is Now a **Solid Column of Power, raining Death down upon Whatever threatens you.**" The demons were destroyed as blue crystals and flames tore into them. "NOTHING can hurt you when **I** am here to protect you. I'm Shinji Ikari. I'm about to get laid."

Rei's now soaked head popped into the shot. "And I'm wet!"

A very flushed Kensuke shut off the camera. "And you aren't going to kill me?"

Shinji grinned as a now fully dressed Marina came up. "You owe me for this Ikari."

"Yeah, yeah." Rei showed no intention of putting on anything beyond the thong. "Kid, I don't even mind the fact that you can see Rei's tits right now. If you play your cards right from here, you could end up in a good position in a government soon."

Kensuke's face managed to get redder. "…seriously?"

Shinji barked out a laugh. "Money, power, anything that doesn't take someone's free will could be yours for the taking. Just stick with me." He wrapped his arm around Rei and began doing… interesting things as they walked into one of the burned out buildings they'd used.

"Where are you going?"

"Just told the entire city!" he called over his shoulder. "I'm about to get laid!"

After standing in shock for a few minutes, Kensuke, a pixie, and Marina looked down at the black cat Shinji had been doing something with earlier. Once the building caught fire again, the cat looked up at the humans and said, "We should leave. Now."

Kensuke sighed in agreement, Marina shrieked, and the Pixie nodded at her old associate and flew away.

Gouto sighed. "Nobody thought it would be important to tell the new people that I talk, did they?"

The cat and the adolescent male exchanged a glance. "Nope." … "I don't really have much of a choice about this anymore, do I?"

"Nope."

* * *

Touji yawned as Hikari came up behind him on the street. "You look tired. Up late Suzuhara?"

Opting to rub his eyes instead of turning around to actually see who was addressing him, the jock replied, "Yeah, there was this awesome movie on last night. Was up till tw-"

He was cut off by an explosion from the school.

Now fully awake, Touji shouted, "What the _hell_ was that?"

Hikari was already running.

When they arrived a few seconds later, they found a satisfied-looking teenage girl standing outside the ruins of the main building, talking to someone in the smoke that everyone in Tokyo-3 now knew the name and face of.

Shinji sighed as the girl finished talking with a grin on her face. His smile seemed rather strained, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Kirishima!"

The girl with short red hair turned to Hikari. "Oh, hey Class Rep!"

Hikari Horaki, Class Representative and one of the four top summoners (in government employ) in Japan, grabbed Kirishima's ear and dragged her off with great effort.

Touji was left standing alone, staring at the crumbling remains of what used to be the school's main entrance. "Why would someone blow up the school?"

* * *

"You're taking full responsibility?"

"Yes ma'am." Kirishima was standing with ramrod posture before the school principal.

"Why did you feel it would be necessary to blow up the reception area?"

"Ma'am, today at 0813, I just arrived at school when I found something wrong with the lockers of students Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami."

"Was this a 'suspicious' article?" the principal asked.

"Affirmative. Their importance being obvious to everyone in this city, I felt that, given the potential threat, it would be irresponsible of me not to everything possible to eliminate any threats to their wellbeing. I chose to use the most reliable means of disposal."

"And what means was that?"

As if it were the most obvious thing in the world, she answered, "Destruction by means of a high-yield explosive."

"An explosion you say?"

"Yes," she confirmed.

Hikari was inwardly rejoicing. That girl had just shown up after the last Angel attack, and consistently proven herself a troublemaker. Now, she'd just have to deal with Ikari, Ayanami, Aida… and explain herself to Suzuhara.

"That is most commendable Kirishima-san."

Hikari collapsed.

"Are you ok Class Rep?"

Hikari scrambled to her feet, ignoring her classmate's question. "Principal Seiei, don't you think it's a little _odd_ for a middle school student to blow up other people's lockers? Where do people _do_ things like that?"

The principal allowed herself a small smile. "Tokyo-3, apparently."

Hikari was pulling at her hair. "You've _got _to be kidding me…" she grumbled.

The principal sighed. "It appears, Class Representative Horaki, that you do not grasp the gravity of the situation. Imagine a package from a stranger has arrived at your house. When you pick it up, you hear the sound of something rustling inside. Perhaps it emits an odd smell, or feels warm in your hand. You wouldn't just open it up, would you?"

"Of course not! But I wouldn't _blow up my house_!"

"Ah, but if you only had a few minutes to act without causing a panic, and it was in a locker you didn't know the combination to, you would have no choice _but _to blow it up."

"I see." She didn't. The previous Geirin hadn't had time to instill the proper degree of paranoia into her before the title was passed on. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that your lover hasn't been possessed by a demon that would kill you both if you don't realize it's there and exorcise it. Always carry parachutes in the event of aerial battles, and gas masks for demons that emit toxic vapors.

"Exactly. I will inform the teaching staff of this. I commend you for making a sound decision to protect your fellow students under pressure Kirishima."

Hikari fell again.

* * *

"Stand. Bow. Sit."

The students complied before the new teacher began taking role. "Ah, Ayanami and Ikari. I'm 'honored' you have decided to join us today."

Shinji's eyes ran over the sniveling man. He wasn't impressed by his cheap suit, or his slicked-back hair. "I'm ashamed at Japan for thinking you're qualified for an actual job."

Rei ignored this, instead bringing up one of the porn sites Hanamura-san had shown her how to find on Shinji's computer.

Very few of the students behind her managed to focus on the teacher that day.

* * *

The teacher driven just short of suicide, Shinji allowed himself a smile as he walked to the nearest convenient entrance to NERV, thankful that the path from there to school was an entirely blue area.

Upon reaching the door, Shinji knocked hard enough to get the attention of whoever was standing on the other side. "Are you going to let me in?"

An intercom crackled beside the door. _"No."_

Shinji calmly exhaled as he removed a blue piece of chalk from his pocket and began drawing on the enormous steel door.

A quick bit of transmutation later, and the stainless steel door had a metal flap to allow him in.

The security officer stared at Shinji with the fear his presence merited.

"Take me to your leader."

* * *

Gendo kept his hands folded in front of him as the white-cloaked young man entered.

"Commander Rokubungi."

"Third Child."

"I felt we should have a little chat."

"I have already discussed the terms of our agreement with your appointed negotiator. Unless you are here to discuss NERV operations, I see no reason for your presence here."

Shinji pulled out his chalk again, using it to transmute a throne opposite Gendo. He plopped himself down in it and stretched before telling the man, "Actually, I'm here to discuss the Kirijo and Nanjo Groups' proposal to the United Nations. It would be rather… unfortunate… for us both if the UN were to accept the project in full."

The Commander blinked, making a mental note to find out where the boy was getting his information. "It is being taken care of." He listened as Shinji proposed a plan designed to discredit the two biggest opponents of NERV in Japan.

"Of course, all of this is dependent on one single piece of conjecture I have formed based on a single, likely easily explained, piece of information. If I am wrong, then your original operation will proceed as planned. If not, then both NERV and myself will show Tokyo-3 that we can work together while simultaneously weakening someone we find to be a mutual nuisance."

…

"Permission granted."

* * *

With Rei having been suspended for looking at porn on a school computer, Shinji found himself leaving the classroom on his own. He wandered around the school for a while, making small talk with the students who didn't flee or drop to their knees when he arrived. Kensuke agreed to his offer when he caught up, and Shinji pretended not to notice the same set of footsteps he'd heard following him since leaving his classroom.

Twenty minutes later, when most of the students were either immersed in afterschool activities or had gone home, Shinji walked over to a vending machine. He dug his wallet out of his pocket, fumbling one handed as he tried to remove the money for his drink.

Seeing the only opportunity Shinji had presented that afternoon, his stalker moved forward.

Though he could smell the mix of oil and generic soap coming from the girl he towered a full two heads over, he pretended to still be fumbling with the wallet that he could have simply used his AT-Field or Magnetite to hold up. He waited until she was closer before saying, "Ah, Kirishima-san. Is there something I could help you with?"

The redhead blushed. Saving their lives several times over and then asking if he could help even as he struggled to accomplish what for most would be a basic task. She gently plucked the wallet from his hand and fed a bill into the machine. "Didn't I tell you that you could call me Mana-chan?"

Shinji retrieved his wallet and pocketed it before pushing the button for a Dr. Salt. "And I told you I'd do that on one condition, Kirishima-san. Don't tell me you forgot already."

"Of course not!" She answered. "Shinji-sama."

Shinji restrained the urge to crush the still full soda against his forehead. He didn't really care if she insisted on calling him Ikari, but he still didn't feel he had reached the point where _sama_ was appropriate for either name.

He settled for a sigh before opening the can with his teeth.

At least no one had taken it far enough to start addressing him as if he was a god.

That could backfire spectacularly if he did not successfully exorcise Vergil beforehand.

He smiled after taking a sip. "Thanks. You heading home?"

"Yeah."

Shinji's expression shifted from a content curve of his lips to one of those winning grins with whiter-than-white teeth that could remove a pair of panties from fifty paces. "Mind if I walk you there?"

Her face turned bright red, but it didn't take. "W-well, I'd love to, b-but I have to pack for a t-trip this weekend. My m-mom's job. She d-doesn't want m-me alone, so…" It was obvious to Shinji that she was grasping at straws.

"Oh, don't worry about it." He put the perfect amount of disappointment into his voice. "I guess I'll see you Monday."

Mana's blush intensified as she turned and ran home.

Shinji listened to her just-too-heavy footsteps until they faded away. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Confirmed. I suppose I'll see you tomorrow." … "I see. Then inform your representatives that I will be accompanying them as a show of faith between our groups."

Shinji ended the call and crushed the phone in his hand without waiting for a response.

* * *

Upon returning to the Blue Rose, he found a flyer nailed to his door.

KYOUJI KUZUNOHA IS CONNECTED TO MAREBITO

A three-legged crow was drawn on the bottom of the sheet.

The order was rather clear.

Shinji grunted as he ripped the flyer off the door and entered, intent on finding out who the current Kyouji was. It may have fit into his plans already, but now he had official sanction for the operation.

* * *

"What do you mean she left?"

"Exactly what I said," Seta answered. "Naoto-kun got a call this afternoon ordering her to Tokyo-2. Something about a mauled body that was missing a lot of blood."

Though a part of him wanted to know what exactly Souji meant by 'missing', Shinji instead asked if Souji knew anything about the current Kyouji.

"Just that the guy _really_ hates the Raidou line. Although…"

"Although?"

"The guy actually hasn't been seen for about a month. Not since the _USS Constitution_ went missing." Again, not Shinji's problem. Unless…

"You think he had something to do with it?"

"Nah," the Persona User answered. "Doesn't fit his style. Maybe if he wanted to summon Uncle Sam or something, but I just can't see him going that far out of his way. Personally, I think he took a major event like that as a chance to disappear."

Shinji sighed. "And, of course, we have no idea what he's done in that solitude, except for this." He held up the paper from his door. "Naoto did leave a way to get in touch, right?"

"Yeah, her cell number's on the fridge."

* * *

Naoto's frown deepened as her phone started vibrating. "What is it?" she snapped.

"_I need to know about Kyouji," _Shinji told her.

"The man himself? I don't know much except that he's been making my life difficult."

"_How so?"_

Naoto typed something into her computer before answering, "The body that I was called up here to investigate disappeared from the morgue. The people who removed it were sloppy though, and one of them left a hat. It seems like the company that did this was connected, or maybe even controlled by, the Kirijo Group. I'd guess that they were connected to him."

"_What makes you so sure?"_

"Aside from the fact that the only piece of evidence here was gone by the time I arrived? Nothing. I can't prove that he's done anything."

"_But you have suspicions." _

"Yes." Naoto logged out of the computer and started moving. "In the past year, I've had several supposedly 'coincidental' setbacks by known or suspected associates of Kyouji."

"_I see. It sounds like Kirijo is my best bet then. See you later."_

* * *

Shinji flipped his phone shut with a sigh. "I guess that'll be the only option then."

Souji grunted. "Just make sure you don't get anyone hurt Ikari."

"Of course," he replied. "Look, I'm thankful for all your help, really, but…"

"Outstayed our welcome, huh?"

"No, you're all welcome here whenever you need it, but I don't think our available forces can justifiably be left in one place. Once relations with NERV have smoothed over, there will not only be two Evangelions, but also Alice and two Kuzunohas. I can't really justify keeping ten Persona Users here as well. Not with so much ground to cover."

"Ah," Souji said. "I see. You want us to cover as wide an area as possible."

"Exactly," Shinji answered. "We can't cover as much ground as we should if we're all starting from one place."

"Alright then. I should be able to herd everyone out by tomorrow night. Keep the city covered while you handle that thing, and be gone once you've returned to protect it," he told him. "Any recommendations one where we should position ourselves, or should we all just head home?"

"I don't think I like having Naoto on her own. Sure, she's a good summoner and stronger than the average human, but for the things we deal with bimonthly at best, that's like saying a tissue is a little tougher when it's dry. Send Kanji up there as backup."

Souji arched an eyebrow. "You saw it too, huh?"

Shinji suppressed a smile. "I assure you, I have no idea what you're talking about. Now, Inaba has been a bit of a hotspot, it's why those four still live up there. If there's a place you could stay, I'd like the rest of your old group, yourself included, to sniff around a little up there."

"Am I looking for anything?"

"A rabbit," Shinji told him.

Souji chuckled for a moment before freezing. _"Kami._ You're being literal, aren't you?" Shinji nodded. "Couldn't you just go to a damn pet-store?"

"I suppose I could, in theory," Shinji allowed. "But I need a very special rabbit. A snow-white hare rarely seen in the Yasoinaba region."

Souji sighed. "I tried catching one of those things before. Sat down in poison ivy, got lost, and missed three days of school."

"Well then," Shinji told him without sympathy, "it's a good thing you aren't a student anymore."

* * *

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Misato asked as Shinji leaned against the grey NERV VTOL.

As the sound of a taxi's door being slammed shut reached his ears, Shinji pointed to a figure and replied, "Her."

A scowl clearly evident on her face, Hikari demanded, "Why did you call me out here Ikari?"

Minato Kuzunoha XXXV clicked his tongue, drumming his fingers against the katana at his side. "I'd advise you to be more respectful, Geirin. I understand if you didn't hear about my victory yet, but I won a battle to the death with the Minato you surely met at least once." His fingers stopped, frozen in a position ready to draw the cursed sword. "In front of Yatagarasu. I assume you realize what this means."

Comprehension dawning on her face as she suppressed her displeasure at being called by that… _thing_, Geirin Kuzunoha XXII dropped to one knee before the Clan Head. "My apologies… Minato-dono."

Shinji's lips curved slightly. "You are forgiven, Geirin. Now, come with me."

"Where are we going… sir?" she begrudgingly added.

As he jumped into the VTOL after her, Shinji responded by asking, "What do you know about the Jet-Alone?"

* * *

As she looked out the window to see the ruins below, Hikari couldn't help commenting, "It's hard to believe this used to be our flourishing capital."

"Try looking at it as someone with memories of the city," Marina told her from her seat by Misato.

"We're here," Doctor Akagi informed the others.

Shinji looked out at the large facility where several private planes had landed.

"This is it?" Misato asked. "Why do their presentation all the way out here? Is the SSDF trying to shove its nose in our business too?"

"It's a pretty isolated area," Shinji said. "It makes sense that if their not just proposing a giant robot, but something specifically designed to combat things that most people don't believe in, then it would make perfect sense to use an out-of-the-way location like this. Anyway, I doubt the SSDF is involved."

"Why's that?" Hikari asked. "Sir," she added without bothering to mask the tone of distain.

"Because _I_ represent UN interests in this project, as Brigadier General Minato Kuzunoha." Which came with the added title of being a member of the Committee for Human Instrumentality, and technically one of SEELE; though he had yet to bother acknowledging either. "And so do you, Lieutenant. We," meaning the UN, "wouldn't allow the military of a single nation to elevate itself over the UN itself, and the JSSDF were specifically instructed that they were _not_ to send a representative."

"So _you_ represent the nations of the world?" Misato asked.

"Scary thought, huh?" Marina whispered.

* * *

They had arrived early. Shinji found himself breaking away from the others at the beckoning finger of a pale man in sunglasses and a black suit. "What do you want?"

The pale man smiled, revealing rotted teeth. "My my, I knew you were rather uncultured, but surely you recognize something of Power when you see it." Fingers with dirty, chipped nails lowered the sunglasses to reveal hollow eye sockets. Upon closer examination, Shinji saw that the man wasn't pale skinned. The thing standing before him had pallid, almost translucent, skin and bluish lips.

The corpse standing in front of Shinji smelled awful, the specifics of which were best left unmentioned. "Yes, far more tasteful to speak with someone through a corpse. Now what the hell are you?" Matarel appeared over his shoulders.

The corpse smiled. "I merely wished to tell you that I will be waiting. After all, you humans are so much more delicious when you're running scared. I truly am sorry we were unable to come to an agreement."

A ring of flame appeared around Shinji's wrist as he grabbed the corpse's collar. "I only know one necromancer, and she has better ways of getting in touch. So I'll ask one more time: _What_ the _Hell _are you!"

The corpse seemed to look at Shinji's arm. "Are you actually threatening a corpse?"

It had a point. A corpse wouldn't feel pain, and trying to threaten it for information it didn't want to give would have the same result as threatening to crush your own phone. But crushing the receiver could still be satisfying.

The corpse burned beautifully.

Shinji raised the hood instead of dismissing the cloak and followed the others in.

"What took you?" Marina asked.

"Some necromancer I apparently pissed off by refusing an offer from without realizing left a messenger for me outside."

She blinked. "So that guy you went to talk with was-"

"Yeah. Geirin."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Tell me you have something besides that silver knife of yours."

She opened her green jacket slightly as she turned to face him, revealing a shotgun with the barrel cut down to end just before the forward grip. "It has a Hellstorm round in it. You know what those are, don't you?"

"Magnetite fueled reusable shell that mixes an Agi and Garu. Nanjo Group produced. Not bad," he told her.

A man in a white suit came over to the pair of Kuzunohas. He pushed his chocolate brown bangs out of his eyes before saying, "Ah, Hikari-chan. I haven't seen you for months. Hard at work with the new job, eh?" He tugged at his yellow tie as if it were a little tight.

Hikari saluted the man. "Yes sir. It has been some time."

The man sighed. "I told you that you didn't have to act all formal around me, it's not like I bother to."

Marina 'hm'ed. "You mind introducing us?"

"Oh, m-my apologies sir." She was apologizing to the man in white, not the people she came with. "Brigadier General Minato Kuzunoha XXXV and his associate Marina Inoue." She shot a quick glance at the two. "This is Lieutenant Colonel Kyouji Kuzunoha VI."

"Oh really?" he asked. "I've wanted to meet the kid that took down old man Ikari. That was a hell of a show you put on." Kyouji's eyes ran over Marina. He knelt down to kiss the back of her hand. "And I am truly honored to make your acquaintance." He met her eyes. "Perhaps you would like to join me for-" He was cut off as Shinji grabbed the hand Kyouji had kissed. "Hey, what're you doing?" he demanded.

Shinji used one finger to point to a small paper tag on Marina's wrist. Her let go of her arm and pulled it off, stepping back as Marina slapped Kyouji hard enough to send him sprawling to the floor. "What the hell did you do to me you bastard?"

Shinji examined the marks on the tag before running his tongue over it. "An inhibition lowering tag. Having something like this over a vein will have you worse off than a bottle of vodka, and you'd never even know it. Run away now you bastard, before I call up Raidou, Alice, Black Frost, a half-dozen Persona Users for good measure, and then tell everyone here exactly what you just did."

Kyouji ran off and disappeared into the crowd.

"Why didn't you let me take him down right here?" Marina hissed.

"Because, despite how reprehensible his recent actions were, I have not yet seen him personally do anything that would warrant his execution. Until he does, we can't attack him publicly."

"What are you two talking about?" Hikari needed something to distract her from the fact that the summoner she idolized apparently had a thing for mind control.

Shinji sighed. "Jet Alone represents a threat to NERV's interests, which would make it rather difficult for me to use them to gain the obedience of Tokyo-3. I have reason to believe that Kyouji is the only reason this project was able to proceed as far as it has. I have also received disturbing reports from the Herald." Actually just the one, but there had been summoners that acted on less. "Be ready for an assault by Persona Users, Summoners, their demons, and" remembering his conversation outside, "zombies."

The teen raised an eyebrow. "Zombies? Ikari, I'm fairly certain that I would be much happier if you had never been born."

He glared at her. "Need I remind you of propriety, Geirin? I am here foremost as a representative of the kami, as are you." His eyes were glowing blue beneath his hood. "Now, if there is nothing else, begin guard duty for the NERV personnel."

Geirin left for the NERV table without further comment.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Marina asked.

"Walk around, talk to people, try to find the Marebito plants that I'm sure are here." Minato leaned closer to her. "Be ready for a fight. Keep an eye on Kyouji if you find him again."

"And what will you be doing?" she asked.

"This place is under Kirijo control, one of the largest non-governmental human groups involved in our side of the world." His eyes darted around the room. "I recognize a few of these people." He pointed to a man with a goatee and grey suit. "That's the head of the Uroboros Corporation," a man with glasses and a leather jacket with a 1 on the back, "Kei Nanjo, and I have no doubt that our lovely host Mitsuru Kirijo herself is around here somewhere." Noticing a rather plain looking man, he added, "But I have to wonder why Atlus's CEO is here."

Marina grinned at the revelation that she knew something he didn't. "They make magic soda."

Minato gave her an incredulous look. "Seriously?"

She kept her grin as she vanished into the crowd without giving an answer.

* * *

Shinji turned away from the booth of a perky blond giving some presentation on guns with runes that automated the process of generating Mag bullets. It was something anyone with a basic knowledge of the runes involved should have been able to figure out.

Or maybe that only applied to people who had what was beyond Truth's Gate forced into their heads. Either way, there wasn't anything there that he couldn't figure out for himself, and he saw Akagi scoffing at the 'fanciful delusions' Kirijo was spouting to keep itself afloat.

'_A pity. She might be able to come up with something useful if she's given the proper background knowledge.'_ Shinji, however, was more interested in finding the Marebito members that he was sure had managed to infiltrate the facility. Unless they'd sold Kyouji out, in which case…

The sound of a woman behind him clearing her throat took him away from his internal musing. "General Kuzunoha?" He turned.

The woman standing in front of him was short, even by regional standards. She wore a turtleneck sweater that matched her turquoise hair beneath her white lab coat. She seemed young, couldn't be older than twenty-four or twenty-five. He could also see a pistol holstered within easy reach. "Who's asking?"

The woman pulled a few stray hairs behind her ear. "Dr. Yamagishi. There are things I believe you need to know about the Jet Alone Project."

Before Shinji could come up with a response to someone willing to drop answers in his lap (or lie and manipulate him into furthering their own agenda), the room burst into applause as a woman with dark red hair took to the main stage.

"We'll talk later." Yamagishi proceeded to the table nearest the stage, taking a seat a good distance from Kyouji.

"Thank you, thank you," the well dressed woman told the room. "Thank you for coming to this special demonstration of the latest joint project between the Nanjo Group," she gestured to the bespectacled man in the leather jacket sitting on Yamagishi's right, "and Kirijo Electronics."

Further applause.

A screen lit up behind her as a section of the stage seemed to sink down. "Ladies and gentlemen, for you consideration, I give you," the platform rose back up to reveal a girl with red hair, her face concealed by a visor and gasmask, wearing a green body suit with ceramic plating covering vital areas. "The Demountable Next Integrated Capability Armor." The name was given in English. Schematics appeared on the screen behind them, outlining the defended areas, sensors, and several other things that were likely only understood by the people who designed them. Which was just as well, as most of the people were focused on the girl in the suit.

She couldn't have been more than fourteen.

Shinji was right.

"The DEMONICA."

The schematics reduced in size as the screen went PIP, the larger portion showing a clip of the girl in the DEMONICA charging into a group of Prides and Lusts. The girl blocked one of the scythes with her armored arm and shoved her hand into the offending demon's body, swinging it into another demon with enough strength to force the pair to collapse into a pile of sand.

She leapt over a swing of a pair of scythes, drawing a pair of machine pistols and putting a couple of dozen holes in each of them. She ditched the pistols and pulled a shotgun off her shoulder, chambering an odd-looking round from the pouch hanging from her hip. She shoved the barrel into a Pride's head, and a bolt of lightning that tore through three of the demons came roaring out of it.

A trio of Wraths stumbled onto the screen, carrying organic sacks over their shoulders. The girl waited for them to be dispersed within the melee before rolling beneath another scythe. She picked up one of the discarded SMGs emptying the clip of its three remaining shots at full auto.

Each bullet hit one of the sacks, triggering an explosion in each.

That kind of precision at that speed should have been impossible. _Shinji_ couldn't adjust his aim that quickly.

The room applauded the image of the girl standing on the street, surrounded by sand.

"Now, I remind you that this is only the prototype of the suit, and the person using it is a very special candidate. However, by the time we have achieved full production, even an ordinary human being will be capable of this performance."

Minato frowned. Something like that could be dangerous in the wrong hands.

"However, the DEMONICA is still inadequate in combating the larger creatures we have encountered. As such, we have the solution to enemies that human beings simply cannot match in sheer scale."

The previous video, which was now playing on loop, dropped into a corner to show a massive humanoid figure, in blatant defiance of the square-cube law, standing proudly amongst layers of scaffolding on all sides. A crimson sphere in the center of its chest bore the symbol warning of radioactive contamination in a bright yellow. The main body was a dark green, matching the DEMONICA. The image broke down into a set of blueprints, highlighting the 75mm machine guns attached to each shoulder, missile pods on the 'hips', miniature positron blasters on one arm, and the compact nuclear generator.

"In a few minutes, we will be proceeding to the observation deck to witness a live-fire test, as well as a display of the prototype's maneuverability. But, before that, does anyone here have any questions?"

Minato smirked as Akagi's hand shot into the air.

"Ah, the famous Dr. Ritsuko Akagi," Kirijo acknowledged.

"Isn't it rather dangerous to use a nuclear reactor in a unit like this?"

"I assure you, our reactor has every possible precaution put in place, and ensures up to thirty-six hours of continuous operation at maximum performance. It is second only to our revolutionary neural interface control system, which you will see later."

"But still, even with every precaution, how effective can a unit engaging in close-range combat be if the pilot must be concerned with…"

Shinji was starting to wish he'd brought a Pagan demon with him. Yamagishi's message would have been far easier to receive if he had someone that could just read the woman's mind. Once the argument over the mid-combat maintenance of the generator concluded with Kirijo's allusion to a backup power supply, Minato found himself raising his own hand.

"Wouldn't there be a risk of harmful feedback from a neural control system?" he asked.

"The same question could be posed to NERV, but at least we do not require specific children in order to make our unit move."

Minato smiled as the people around him chuckled at the slight to NERV. "But what about the AT-Field?"

"That too is only a matter of time and research. NERV may have been the first to succeed with the technology, but we will be the ones to perfect it." Everyone with a functional knowledge of the Absolute Territory knew that was a lie. If the JA proved capable of deploying an AT-Field at all, it would be solely through the merit of the pilot.

* * *

Shinji met with Ritsuko at the exit. "Do it."

* * *

Yamagishi pulled him aside, telling him to follow her into a closet.

"You realize I'm a minor, right?"

"Very funny." Her face didn't seem to agree with her words. She handed over a file labeled **Papillion Drive.** "This is the 'emergency power supply' that was mentioned earlier."

"Give me the abridged version."

"That's probably for the best." She paused for a deep breath before continuing. "The Papillion Drive is real, and the principles behind it are sound. The usage of it is the only reason the JA can even support its own weight. But…" she closed her eyes. "The Papillion Drive was originally designed for use in a sentient humanoid weapon, giving it a personality of her own. It was never designed to be used like this." Her eyes opened and met his. "Kyouji Kuzunoha knew about it somehow, and made a proposal to combine it with a system that would force a person's Magnetite to be exerted to the absolute limit. Unless someone was put through the same procedures Kirishima was-"

"Trying to use the Drive would kill them right away, wouldn't it?" Yamagishi nodded. "But what's the problem? The system is sound, even if it may dehumanize the pilot to a degree."

"The procedure itself isn't the problem. Tests have been done, mainly by Kuzunoha, and we've done trials of the actual unit with the pilot inside. The machine worked fine up to 17% of the official capability of the unit, at which point the pilot began complaining of difficulty breathing. It was officially reported as problems resulting from excess stress with the pilot, but I ran the numbers myself. The Papillion Drive will use whatever it can to perform the task assigned to it."

Minato understood then. "The Papillion Drive will put too much stress on the pilot trying to make the JA move properly. It would kill her."

Yamagishi nodded. "Exactly. The DEMONICA itself is sound. Brilliant even. But the JA just isn't ready."

Shinji leaned against the door of the broomcloset. _'This doesn't fit the pattern. Kirijo Electronics has been posting a few losses over the last few quarters, but the conglomerate as a whole is still strong. She wouldn't risk the whole Group like this.'_ "Has Kirijo been alone with Kyouji? No guards, no cameras, nothing?"

"Um…" Yamagishi paused to think. "Not that I know of, but there was some kind of glitch in the security system the night he showed… up…" Her eyes widened. "You don't think-"

"Of course I do," he growled. "That's another reason to take the bastard down."

* * *

"We will now begin the demonstration of the Jet Alone. We assure you, there is no danger, and you may observe through that window."

As Kirijo addressed the crowd, Kyouji leaned over a technician's shoulder. "Alright Mana, we're starting the program. Just breath deeply and relax. Let the machine do the work for you."

"_Understood sir."_

The readout for the DEMONICA indicated that the pilot was now unconscious. Kyouji smiled. Perfect.

"Alright, let's start with a step. Left, then right. Left, then right."

The machine took one lumbering step forward. And another, and another.

And another.

A few of the technicians exchanged smiles. They had success.

"Alright, now for a turn."

The JA stopped its advance toward the building, turning south to Atsugi.

Kyouji excused himself with a smile.

"We will now begin the weapons test. Raise the targets."

Several unmanned drones took to the air in front of Jet Alone.

The targeting system lined up each, shooting them down with the machine guns in its shoulders.

"Alright, that's good. Return JA to the hanger and prepare to disconnect."

The unit did nothing.

"Pilot Kirishima, return the Jet Alone to the hanger Now."

The two missile pods moved along the waist to aim directly at the building.

"Kirishima, respond!"

The Jet Alone opened fire on the building.

Six missiles flew toward the building, slamming into an invisible wall and detonating in an explosion that shook the ground.

* * *

When Kyouji looked up from the terminal he held with a handle in his right hand to see that the building was still standing, he knew it was time to run.

He typed in a new command and pulled the trigger one the device he had acquired from that hacker. A circle at the end of what could be considered the barrel of the gun-like computer began to spin before spraying a burst of green light. The small keyboard and screen folded together to make the device appear much more like some kind of firearm as he jumped onto the back of the white tiger he had summoned.

Byakko leapt out of the way as Amon-Ra tried to strike it with its staff.

A man with a small silver ring in one ear put the tip of his sword against the ground and leaned on it, flicking the poorly-dyed brown bangs out of his face.

"Were you going somewhere?"

* * *

Before the smoke had cleared from the window, Shinji kicked down the door to the room.

A man who was already summoning his Persona to protect him whipped around to try and attack the new arrival, only for a bullet to drive through his forehead into the glass window.

A bit of smoke began to creep in through the cracks as Shinji proceeded to the nearest tech, hoisting him out of his chair and shouting, "Where is he?"

"Wh-who?" he stammered.

"Kyouji Kuzunoha. That bastard sabatoged the Jet Alone."

"N-no-no, he couldn't, he worked harder on this than anyone!"

"I'm getting weird readings here!" another tech declared. "Reactor pressure is going through the roof!"

"Temperature of the coolant is increasing as well!"

Shinji grimaced. "Is it still moving?"

"Yes."

"Where?" he asked with ice in his voice.

"T-t-to Atsugi!"

Over 240,000 people.

"Damnit. Create a disaster while simultaneously eliminating some of the most influential among the people that have the slightest clue what's going on. That was Marebito's plan all along. And they did it," anger clear on his face, "with the Help of _Kyooouuuujjiiiiiii!"_

He blinked before berating himself for losing his sense of priorities. The walking nuke was the current issue, and then he could take the bastard down.

He jumped through the window, ignoring the glass cutting into his skin as he ran after the nuclear robot.

He created a vacuum in front of him with his AT-Field, summoning Shamshel to his hand as he flew through the air. The whip lashed out as he passed the robot, wrapping around one of the missile launchers and tearing it off as he pulled himself toward the unit. His eyes ran over the machine until he found the hatch to the cockpit.

Jumping from a platform to the door, he ripped it from the hinges. He climbed into the tight space, finding a mic. "I'm in. How do I disconnect the pilot?"

"_Who do you think you are?"_ an angry voice shouted. _"Forget the damn pilot, we have all the information from her we need. Find the keyboard and type in-"_

"I asked how to remove the pilot. And as for who I am, I am Brigadier General Minato Kuzunoha XXXV of the United Nations Devil Summoners Corps, Son of the eldest child of the Dark Knight Sparda himself. I am the man who contracted queen Alice and fought the Hito-Shura. You can call me Shinji Ikari. And if you don't tell me what I want, then I will also be the man you will always remember as the man who boiled your eyes. Now, how do I _safely_ disconnect the pilot from this?"

There was no response from the other end.

"Well?"

A different voice came over. _"I've tried the program, but Jet Alone isn't responding to any of our commands. There should be a keyboard just to the left of the pilot's seat. Type in Exactly what I tell you, and she should disconnect fine."_

He typed in a series of commands that he himself didn't understand the function of.

"_She should be a little groggy, but she'll be fine. Just pull out the cable plugged into the back of the DEMONICA's neck."_ The unit seemed to begin to tumble when he did so. _"Now use that barrier to contain the explosion, the reactor's about to go."_

Shinji smiled as lines began to spread along his hand. "Actually, I had a different idea."

* * *

Kyouji jumped away from the Persona User, grimacing as he saw the explosion in the distance. It wasn't nearly as large as it should have been, and there was no shockwave. He'd have to do this the hard way.

As the Persona User ducked beneath the incoming tiger and stabbed through its crimson-stained chest, the Kuzunoha pulled out his terminal again, typing in a long string of commands before pulling the trigger three times.

"Genbu! Barbatos!" The first surge of green energy seemed to do nothing but chill the air as it flew toward the flooded remains of Tokyo. The second, however, hung above the two humans in the air, slowly fading away to reveal a chipped and stained statue of a man, unashamed at his nudity and crossing his arms with a stern glare at the Persona User below. The man recognized similarities between the creature Kyouji summoned and the untriggered form of the Virtues, but for it to seem so dirty, it must have been one of the Fallen. Barbatos, a former Virtue and a Duke of Hell, one the four that often accompanied Asteroth.

Then the dragon-headed giant turtle lumbered out of the water.

The Persona User looked at the beast's scaly red head, the spikes along its blue shell, and the claws at the end of the front limbs, and summed up his situation in the most eloquent way possible.

"Shit."

* * *

Shinji looked down at his now bare chest and sighed. This was really growing rather tiresome. Although, miraculously, his pants were still intact.

He looked up at the remaining scraps of the Jet Alone, and the ball of nuclear fire held within his AT-Field. It was contained for now, but by no means a permanent solution. The safe course of action would be to shoot it at Mars.

Instead, he set up a transmutation circle on his wrist with Magnetite and allowed a near microscopic hole in the AT-Field. The ball of energy was promptly replaced with a mere shimmer in the air caused by his field distorting light, and that too quickly vanished. His hand was glowing, but that was to be expected after taking in the energy of a nuclear explosion. Still, his cells didn't feel off, so it probably wasn't radioactive. He allowed himself a small smile. The modified rune worked.

Beneath the cracked visor, Mana's eyelids fluttered as she returned to consciousness. One hand trailed up to remove the now useless piece of headgear. She saw Shinji, glowing hand and all, standing above her and realized three things. 1: The man she'd come to idolize since hearing of his elimination of Sachiel was standing right in front of her. 2: Something had gone horribly wrong with the testing of the unit. And 3: Shinji Ikari had saved her. Years of training and lessons on self-restraint for her enhanced body flew from her mind as she tackled him in a hug.

As the two began falling to the ground, she realized that this may have been a bad idea.

That idea was reinforced by a distinct snapping sound as they hit the dirt.

She immediately removed herself from her position atop his chest. "OhmygodI'msorrydon'tmoveI'llgethel-"

Shinji grunted as his spine realigned itself. "I'm fine," he told her as he rose. "I assume you are uninjured?"

She managed to nod.

"Good." He looked over his shoulder to see obvious signs of a fight. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to go take care of something."

"Oh… um, please, go ahead," she stammered.

He crouched down to set off on a run. "I should be back in a few minutes, but you might want to consider starting back on foot if you're up to it." She nodded as he took off running.

"Look at him go…" she commented to the dust cloud where he'd been.

* * *

Marina summoned a Persona to raise a White Wall over the combatants even as blue fire melted the storm of frozen spikes raining down on them. Shinji skidded to a halt beside her, looking at the chipped naked man floating overhead. "What'd I miss?"

Marina gestured to the brown-haired Persona User that was putting his sword against Kyouji's knife. "That guy caught Kyouji making his get away. Geirin and a couple of other Persona Users are clearing a path for the suits to the VTOLs. Kirijo tried to freeze the room, but this blond chick knocked her out before commissioning Geirin and that Nanjo guy for what they're doing now. She dragged her into one of the things and they flew off." Another mabufudyne stopped short above them as Genbu roared in rage. "I've been focusing on Genbu, since that Virtue isn't doing anything."

Shinji met the glowing red eyes of the statue. "I don't think that creature's been a Virtue for a _long_ time."

"**Playing the Fool does not become you, Son of Vergil."**

Black lightning began crackling along the length of the Fallen's body. "Oh," Marina said.

"**You are the one who ruined us. Ruined **_**me!"**_

Pieces of stone seemed to be melting into black skin. "Oh crap."

"**Because of your kin, and you personally, I have **_**twice**_** lost my chance in the Greatest of battles."**

A black crown formed atop its head, bolts of black lightning continuing to arc over it as the remains faded, leaving a solid black muscular man wearing a stone breastplate and nothing else. The creatures face looked like a well-charred corpse, the flesh of its face burned away to reveal a skull that twisted at unnaturally sharp angles and revealing almost _vampiric_ canines in its mouth. "An honest to Sparda Triggered Fallen…" Shinji whispered.

"_**DIE!"**_

He grinned. "Mine."

Marina retreated _toward_ Genbu, where she would be much safer, as black lightning began raining down on the ground. Shinji weaved between the bolts, sending high-pressure needle-thin drops of water into the sky in retaliation.

The Fallen didn't even bother to move out of the way. It just _looked_ at the approaching projectiles and they faded out of existence. As Shinji batted another black bolt at Genbu in the distance, he couldn't help feeling a little awed. The fact that he had time to feel that instead of pants-soiling fear was enough for him to know that this thing was nowhere _near_ the Hito-Shura's level, but still. This was a creature that affected its surroundings without a single action, at times without even _thinking_. Most demons could, with effort, be killed with conventional means.

_This_ thing, however, would once have been considered a nigh invulnerable God.

Although, by that same standard, Shinji would have been a Demigod born of a far stronger being. He felt his soul brush against the Fallen, nearly twisting in revulsion at the sensation. His AT-Field receded in on itself as he leapt at Barbatos, glowing hand tearing into the Fallen's defenses.

The hate in the creature's eyes was clear as it caught the oversized sword Shinji swung at it with one hand. "Get down there and fight me like a man!" he shouted as his foot lashed out at the demon.

It fell short.

"**I consider such a comparison an insult, but if you are so insistent on returning to the base earth…"**

The Fallen lifted the sword, and Shinji with it, and threw it to the ground with all its considerable might.

The sword nearly sank to the hilt.

Shinji bounced a clean two feet into the air, blood trailing out of his mouth.

"**Grydyne."**

The sword disappeared in a burst of flame as Shinji was pulled down with bone breaking force.

He felt ligaments throughout his body tear loose and sink to his front side, as close to the ground as they could get.

"_There has to be some reason it won't touch the ground…"_ Shinji struggled to lift his hand a few inches from the ground, allowing it to slam back down as he choked out, _"Mamagdyne!"_

The ground around him trembled for a moment, but nothing else seemed to come of it.

Until the ground outside the fifteen foot radius the Grydyne encompassed shot into the air, slamming together just above Barbatos. The Fallen Angel descended as its concentration slipped, the Grydyne ending and allowing Shinji motion.

After a moment for his body to repair itself, Shinji forced his AT-Field up and tore through Barbatos's.

"My turn you ancient son of a bitch." The earthen dome burst open as he leapt up and grabbed the Fallen's face. He generated a Platform beneath his feet, swinging the creature up so its feet faced the sky. _"MAFREIDYNE!"_

All the considerable might of a high-yield nuclear explosive spread about three meters and shot straight up, engulfing the Fallen's body and carrying it into the air.

Shinji dropped back to the ground and generated a new platform level with the ground, using another Mamagdyne to propel him into the air after the Fallen. He kicked off a pair of Platforms to readjust his aim, called Order to his hand, and hooked the blade within Barbatos's chest. "Maragilaodyne."

A pillar of blue flame fell from the sky, dissipating just short of the ground and dropping the mangled body of the demon to the ground, where it burst into a brilliant silver flame.

Shinji managed to land gently with his AT-Field, and stared suspiciously at the Barbatos-shaped mark on the ground until a near-blinding flash of light came from where Marina had been fighting the last Ssu-Ling. He looked on as Genbu dissolved in the water and, after making sure the Persona User who killed it was alright, turned his attention to the summoner that was now cowering on the ground before the other Persona User.

_{It seems like you've beaten their leader.}_

The words just appeared in the back of Shinji's mind. They felt like… "Yamagishi, that you?"

The reply was instantaneous. _{Yes. I've been using my abilities to coordinate the summoner and Persona Users protecting the VIPs from the Marebito members. Do you want me to relay a message?}_

He considered her words for a few moments. Shinji looked at the blood on the ground spreading from beneath Kyouji. "Yes. Please tell them that the threat has been eliminated, and they are free to observe the execution of the one who planned the attack if they get here quickly enough."

Kyouji's right hand was over a bloody hole on the left side of his jacket. He looked up with fear clear in his eyes at the man who would execute him. As the brunette Persona User prepared to drive his gladius through him in a finishing blow, Shinji's voice called out, "Wait."

Hope surged within him as Kyouji looked up at his savior.

Shinji called the giant zweihander to his hand again. "I'm taking him down myself. Family business."

The Persona User nodded in understanding before stepping aside. Hope's corpse went through some postmortem twitching. "No…" he whispered.

Shinji towered over the collapsed man. "Kyouji Kuzunoha. You stand accused of the attempted murder of Minato Kuzunoha XXXV, the attempted murder of Jet Alone pilot Mana Kirishima, the attempted murder of Project E Chairperson Ritsuko Akagi, the attempted murder of NERV Tactical Commander Misato Katsuragi, the attempted murder of Geirin Kuzunoha XXII, the attempted murder of several members of Kirijo, Nanjo, Oroburos, and Atlus, manipulating the mind of Mitsuru Kirijo, and attempted detonation of a nuclear weapon in a populated city."

Kyouji began muttering as people made their way into his line of sight. "This can't be happening… This _can't_ be _happening_THISCAN'TBEHAPPENING!"

Kyouji pulled his terminal out as Shinji's sword went through his chest.

The man's last act before being turned into a man-kebab was to pull the trigger.

Shinji pulled his sword out of the charred corpse just before something knocked him aside in a mad dash at the crowd.

What looked like an elderly man riding a silver surfboard flew out of the crowd and swung a staff into the black mass, knocking it aside before disappearing.

Shinji recognized the creature as it took a shape not unlike a man, clothed only in a leather belt with several bones and strips of flesh hanging from it. He tried shouting a warning to the crowd as one of the strips of flesh began glowing, but the group was still too far away.

The solid black man's body rippled and was promptly replaced with a bear the size of a large bus. It roared, paralyzing most of the crowd with fear, as it charged at them. People screamed as claws rent through them.

Water tore into its back like needles, distracting the demon long enough for Kei Nanjo to summon his Persona again. It flew forward, striking the monster with its staff hard enough for the bear to end up on its hind-legs. The Persona struck the creature in its chest as black ripples ran over its skin, the belt reappearing as Yamaoka came around for another strike.

The demon split in two as two bones began to shine, dividing along a perfect line that avoided another strike from the Persona. Before it had taken its shape, a black mass shot off in the direction that the now slaughtered group of executives had come from, leaving a much larger mass that took on a reptilian from as it grew.

Shinji watched as the T-Rex formed, towering over Nanjo. "When the hell did that bastard find time to go to the Navajo?"

The creature now large enough that precision wouldn't be needed to avoid hitting potential allies, Shinji threw a ball of blue fire into the creature's back. He and the Persona User that had defeated Kyouji ran to the creature, the latter using Personae to strike the dinosaur with hammers of wind and bolts of lightning. Shinji had opted to simply keep the fireball burning, using it to eat through the flesh and carry the warmth with it when it moved, and leaving ice-plugged holes from where it had torn into the giant that prevented regeneration.

The pair faltered upon reaching it as the behemoth roared. No matter how powerful one became, no sane being would continue completely undeterred by the roar of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, even if it was injured. Shinji recovered within a moment.

The Persona User now behind him was less undeterred.

Shinji swore as the demon reached down, ready to take a massive bite out of the man. He gently knocked the Persona User out of the way and made an effort to follow.

The T-Rex bit into his right leg.

Shinji roared in pain as he was lifted into the air. He used his good leg to angle himself into a better position before bringing the zweihander down on the beast's muzzle.

The dino roared as Shinji gritted his teeth and tore himself out of the demon's jaw, a bloody stump just over where his knee had been.

Upon returning to the ground, he balanced himself with the sword and waited for the leg to regrow.

Another black wave rippled along the demon's muscles, shrinking back into a humanoid shape as Shinji proclaimed, "_Bullshit!"_

A bare-chested Shinji Ikari stood before him, his one arm holding a sword that could be mistaken for a stone mimicry of such, white cloak over his shoulders, and blue cargo-pants hanging just past his ankles above bare feet. The leather belt hanging off his hips without having been fed through the belt loops on the pants was really the only aesthetic difference between the two, if the first was bathed and had his left shoe removed. "What's wrong Ikari? Worried about something with the kind of power you can bring to bear running around, unafraid of crossing any li-" It was cut off as Shinji shot him in the head.

As the hole in his double's head regrew, Shinji told it, "I've already gone through the whole 'near-perfect double goes on about my insecurities' shtick." As the two male Persona Users took note of the double's belt and joined Shinji at either side, he told it, "Unless you've got some new material, I think we can skip over this." He saw out of the corner of his eye that Marina had stopped her trek back upon seeing two of him, but unable to see the distinguishing feature of the double. "I wonder where he found you. It's damn rare for anything to change form quickly and with enough skill to use it in combat. But that's all you do, isn't it?" The real Shinji smiled. "Things like that are quite close to unique actually; I only know of two, well, three if you count Shadows, and I know you aren't that. A doppelganger might be able to pull it off, but they actually need to have the subject of the transformation in front of them. You, however, don't seem to have that limitation. That, combined with the belt, leaves only one possibility."

The Persona Users leaned in as Shinji's gaze hardened.

"A Skinwalker. Not a very strong one either, otherwise Kyouji couldn't have managed to bind you as he did. But if you are a Skinwalker, and a weak one at that, then you should actually be in physical pain just being away from the Navajo Desert."

The Skinwalker smiled with Shinji's mouth. "Oh, it does. It does. This piece would no doubt expire within a week of freedom as it was." It chuckled. "I really should thank you for that," it told him as it tucked one thumb into the belt and began tapping a chipped tooth hanging from it. "Blood from one such as yourself could keep me running for _centuries_. Longer, should that piece die as well."

Shinji stared in confusion for a moment before looking at the belt.

There was nothing on it save the chipped tooth.

Shinji swore as an explosion came from behind them, knocking the two humans off balance. "It split itself! Handle the other one!" The Skinwalker took another two bullets to the head as Shinji rushed at it. "You too!" he shouted to Marina.

He dismissed the gun and grabbed the Skinwalker's leg in a kick, sending a ziodyne up through the leg and knocking it back. It flipped upright in midair, pulling out a copy of the zweihander in a surge of blue fire. Small blue bolts arced along the blade as it grinned. "I really should thank you for this fight. It's so bothersome, having to figure out what a new body can accomplish." It leapt forward to stab Shinji. The young man knocked the blade away with the still sheathed Muramasa, only to be electrocuted when the Skinwalker swung a bare foot into his abs.

Shinji being knocked back by the strike, the Skinwalker pressed its advantage. It shoved its fist straight into Shinji's chest, tearing out his heart and tossing it aside. "Bufu."

The ice crystal stabbed straight through the hole in Shinji's chest, pinning him to the ground and froze the tissue and ground around it for good measure.

The Skinwalker grinned as it reached down and removed the Muramasa from its place at Shinji's side. "It's been fun kid. Maybe I'll see you around if you can heal from that." The black mass that it had sent to trouble the others rushed back into its body, and remains of several more creatures appeared on its leather belt. "Adios."

Shinji's vision began growing dark as he set to melting the ice.

* * *

Nanjo watched as the unnamed Persona User healed his own leg and took control.

"Inoue, Kuzunoha!" he snapped. "Tend to the wounded!"

Marina switched to a Persona suited to healing and set about searching for survivors that she was still able to help.

Hikari was not so helpful.

"Who do you think you are?" she demanded.

Nanjo couldn't help but see a resemblance to a man he once knew as he towered over the young summoner and calmly informed her that, "I think I am someone with more experience than you. I think I've been doing this since before you were born. And I think that you should stand down and let me stabilize this situation as best I can in the little time I can afford, because the grownups have a dangerous shape shifter from the Navajo to hunt down."

She backed down.

Nanjo saw why the man looked familiar before dismissing the notion. He'd been to that man's funeral.

The man's eyes flickered between the collapsed scientist and the silver handgun she'd fired on herself to summon a Persona. It had only been present for a moment before fading away, and he only had speculation to tell him why. Most likely, the Persona was able to absorb information from demons/angels/personae and us it to clarify how to fight them. Going from that, it wouldn't take much of a leap of imagination for her to be incapacitated as a result of sensory overload. But for that to take her down in a second… And why the gun?

He shook his head. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that.

"How many lost?" The man nearly jumped as Shinji spoke from behind him.

Without turning around, he told him, "Not many, but that thing got a few new human disguises today. We need to go after it now, before it gets any stronger."

"No," came the dejected reply.

The man spun around, and was promptly stunned into silence. Shinji Ikari was physically just as he'd expected him to appear, with a strong jaw, abnormal height for his age and race, white bangs hanging in front of his blue eyes, and a physique some would kill for.

That being said, he looked like hell. Blood and a bruise covered most of his chest, and there were clear scratches along his arm. He had one slightly melted shoe on his left foot, and the right leg of his pants had somehow turned white below the knee. He held up his hand and showed the man one blue fingernail.

"That is the total degree of power I can bring to bear at the moment," he told him. "And I can't even heal these scratches. So unless you happen to have a couple of precious eggs or a few Devil Stars on you, and about a dozen large Vital Stars, all I could contribute for a couple of days is a stronger than average guy missing an arm."

The man said a word he wouldn't have used near the young lady Kuzunoha. "Nanjo, Inoue, we need to get moving!" he called. Marina came over, as did the executive. "We're gonna hunt the bastard down."

Déjà vu struck Nanjo again.

"Wait," Shinji told him. He turned back around. "Who are you?"

"Jihei Suzakuin," he replied without hesitation.

Shinji grabbed his hand. "Never really been one for ceremony…" he grumbled. His hand glowed slightly as a thin blue band formed around Suzakuin's middle finger. "You will have the full support of the Kuzunoha on this mission." He staggered.

"You okay Shinji?" Marina asked.

"Yeah, just pushed myself a little too…"

_Thud_

* * *

Skniwalkers are not good things. There is now one running around Japan capable of anything Shinji can, stole that cursed sword, it can separate itself to take multiple forms at once, and it could pass for any living being it has a piece of. Things will get worse.


	20. Things Get Worse

The woman sighed as she opened the oversized wooden doors. They probably wouldn't last the week.

Her eyes ran over the familiar room. A jukebox in the corner playing an old record, a pool table with an unfinished game, a guitar case leaning against the stairs beside a drum kit…

And several monstrous skulls pinned to the walls like trophies by weapons that looked a few centuries out of date. Behind the desk directly beyond the door was a man in a red coat, leaning back with his black combat boots resting on the desk's surface and an old issue of the Fantastic Four covering his face.

Lady's blue eye twitched slightly as she heard the greatest demon-slayer in the world snoring. She pulled a tiny revolver out of the pouch on her hip, aimed right between where his eyes would be, chambered a round, and pulled the trigger.

Before the bullet had cleared the barrel, the old comic was quickly slapped against the table, revealing a man with white hair and closed eyes that then caught the bullet in his teeth. Without opening his eyes, he leaned further back and spat the bullet out. There was a distinct _ding_ as it landed in a small metal pot on the platform overlooking the main office. The man reached forward and retrieved his comic as he opened one grey eye. He ran a cursory glance over her that was over much quicker than most men would have limited themselves to.

Most men were unaware of how dangerous this woman was, and how much money they were likely to lose by just being around her for any length of time.

Experience had made this man all too aware of both.

He returned his attention to his comic while acknowledging her presence with a grunt.

"What, I don't merit actual words of greeting anymore?" she asked.

He turned the page before answering, "Every time you show up unannounced, it means you need help with a job. No thanks."

"I haven't even told you what it is yet, and it's not like you're my only option," she informed him.

He grunted again. "The only things you ever bring me are shit jobs. Like Calcutta." He glared as memories surfaced. "And they never pay."

Lady crossed her arms as she leaned against the desk. "You're one to talk," she told him. "Do you realize how much money you owe me? I'm here to collect."

The man in red laughed. "You're missing something important," he told her. "I'm so deep in debt I can't keep track. Couldn't pay you back even if I wanted to. And I don't," he said.

"How 'bout a bet then?" she asked as she walked toward the pool table. "If I sink the 8 ball in one shot, then you take the job, unconditionally."

The man smiled as someone knocked on the door. "Sure. And _when_ I win this bet, you forgive my debt and pay me twenty grand, cash." He opened the door as she took the shot.

"I've got one basil and spicy salami pizza for…" the delivery boy trailed off as he saw Lady leaning over the table. Dante took the box as he heard one of the balls go in and saw the guy's eyes widen further. "Nice shot, Miss."

"Just lost your tip," the man grumbled. "I'll pay you back at the end of the month."

He slammed the door in the boy's face.

He took one look at the smirk on her face before exclaiming, "Shit." He placed the pizza in the mini-fridge beneath his desk without opening the box, walked over to the stairs, and picked up his guitar case. "Well, who's this month's poor bastard?"

Her smirk only seemed to grow. "Don't make such a sour face," she told him. "This is something you'll find… _interesting._"

"And what makes you say that?" he asked.

"You still have that old projector?"

* * *

Shinji's eyes snapped open as he felt someone approaching his door. Matarel materialized over his shoulders and Order appeared in his hand. All the might he could bring to bare with his AT-Field readied…

And Rei cringed in the doorway.

Shinji dismissed Order and allowed the buildup of energy to subside.

He kept the cloak on though, because feeling guilty for paranoia should never be an excuse to not take precautions. "Strip," he ordered.

It was a testament to either her loyalty or her libido that she was able to squirm out of those tight jeans so quickly.

* * *

After a very _thorough _physical examination of Rei turned up negative, he allowed her to fall asleep on his bed. Some would berate him for having sex immediately after waking from such a situation, but there was a method to his madness. _Always_. First, sex would actually _help_ with the problem that incapacitated him in the first place. Second, no one stupid enough to ignore the possibilities of making an enemy of a shapeshifter could expect to live long. Third, the particular type of shapeshifter always had that leather band somewhere on its body, necessitating a very thorough check. Finally, it was the inevitable result of asking Rei to remove her clothes.

Alice approached Shinji as he reset the wards on his bedroom door from the outside. She stood in silence as he raised the barrier of his AT-Field between them, waiting until he had finished to say, "That thing really screwed you up, huh?"

Alice didn't merit nearly as thorough an examination as Rei. A cursory mental once over was all it took to identify her as genuine. A contract in blood wasn't the kind of thing that could be faked, even by Skinwalkers. He dropped the barrier with a sigh. "How could I not be?" he asked rhetorically. "There's a fucking Skinwalker walking around stronger than I am, I'll have to justify the execution of Kyouji before SEELE, I don't know how to contact the team I sent after that damn thing, anyone who was injured or scraped their knee or had a loose fucking eyelash could have a double running around and why the hell is my right pants leg white?"

Alice stood still for a moment, confirming that the cloth in question had in fact lost its color. "Alright, we start small and work our way up. I'll run those pants down to Victor, and you start drafting your report to the old men. Geirin didn't stick around to talk much, but she said Inoue went with Nanjo and the other guy, right?"

Shinji groaned. "I passed out at the end there, remember? I know she said she would go, so she probably did if she didn't come back with us. Right then, go take care of that, get her contact information from Sonamura or Mayuzumi, then I'll make the call."

* * *

Shinji did not immediately begin working on his report for SEELE. The computer in his office had not even been turned on yet when Alice returned to find him stomping on the phone's receiver.

"Are you going to fix that when you're done?" she asked dryly.

He grunted to acknowledge her presence. "Wouldn't do any good," he told her. "Don't have a damn dial tone." He rubbed at his temple for a moment. "What's today?" he asked.

"Wednesday."

He gave her a level look.

"September 25th."

"We were supposed to pay the phone bill yesterday, weren't we?" he asked.

"… possibly," Alice admitted.

He grunted. He could use any other phone once he had the number, and could then see about aiding them directly. Until then, he'd just have to write out SEELE's report and explain to NERV what had happened. They would be better equipped to find out exactly who had been at the event, and certainly had the resources to monitor them for suspicious behavior. Getting everyone he could informed of the threat as soon as possible was the important part, not trying to take care of things himself. He'd done everything he reasonably could to stop it, and the best thing he could do was keep himself isolated to one area so anyone who saw him somewhere else would know to shoot to kill.

Preferably with nuclear warheads.

"Fine, I'll take care of it later. You get the number from Mayuzumi?"

Alice looked up at him and quoted the woman, verbatim. "If you think that we managed to survive being on the run for as long as we did while carrying cell phones, you aren't someone that has any business trying to do so much as summon a pixie, much less stand as a champion for humanity."

Shinji glared before saying. "Woman in her early twenties. Made the logical assumption." He threw himself into the chair. "So all we can do about the Skinwalker is file a report to the higher ups. What about the pants?"

"Couldn't find the old man, so I left them with a note."

"A note…" he said flatly. "He's never going to find them like that." He stood up and began walking to the door.

"Where are you going?"

He answered without looking back. "I'm gonna throw those damn things in his face and won't leave him alone until he has some kind of answer."

* * *

Victor waved a metal stick over the pants. There was probably a better way to describe what the man was doing for this test, but Shinji and Alice had no idea how. "Ohohoho, _very_ interesting."

"What is it?" Shinji asked.

"This looks remarkably similar to something I've been working on, just an idea I had."

"Tell us about this idea," Alice ordered.

"A set of clothes that would restore themselves as the wearer healed. The problem was, I couldn't actually run the test without finding something that was actually _able_ to regenerate, convincing it to donate a massive amount of hair and hide, and willing to wear the resulting articles and have them damaged further."

"Wait wait wait," Shinji said. "Are you telling me these pants healed because they were made out of a demon's _hair_? How would that even _work_?"

"Well, young man, it couldn't just be from any demon. It would have to be something that the organism wearing the article would actually recognize as part of its body." Shinji's eyes widened in realization as Victor asked, "How carefully do you dispose of your hair and fingernails?"

Images of trips to barbers, near misses of blades, and entire strips of his scalp being torn away flashed before his eyes. A quiet little "oh" escaped his lips. Something had been gathering up his hair in order to… make him a pair of pants that could last a few fights? Why? A bribe? Something's idea of payment? "This is going to be one of those months…" he muttered.

"Any way to know who made these?" Alice asked.

"Nope!" the old man cheerfully replied. "Think of it this way kid, you're actually about to do what the ad you put out for that little business says you do."

* * *

From the back of the rented and hideously orange minivan, Yosuke asked, "You guys do have a place to stay, right?"

Rise blinked from the front passenger seat before turning to the grey-haired driver. "Do we?"

"What?" he asked mockingly. "You saying we can't crash at your place?"

Chie scowled at his reflection in the mirror. "We barely have room for our own bed; you think we've got a spare room that could fit three?"

Plan A down. "What about you Yuki-chan? You could give your old friends a discount, right?" Souji asked.

"Sure," came the muffled reply. She shoved Teddie off her lap and said, more clearly without his head just under her nose, "As long as you get us there soon."

_[Shadows of Mass Destruction]_

"And change the radio to something that isn't Lotus Juice."

_[Save me from that Bloooooody Destiny]_

* * *

The man's black leather gloves creaked as he clenched his fist. He had seen the monster on that reel before.

Though no hints as to his thoughts were offered on the hard mask his face had become, Lady was feeling fairly confident. "It's him, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

She ignored the red sparks around his clenched fist as he calmly answered. "Yeah." A white haired Caucasian male in black armor, wielding an enormous sword wreathed in blue fire in one hand. Two pulsating purple lines on his face, one through each eye, that twisted family resemblance. "That bastard just doesn't know when to die…" he muttered as one of the gloves ripped.

Lady ignored the black skin beneath the glove as the man lifted the case. "He's been operating out of Tokyo-3 for the past two months under the alias Shinji Ikari."

The man's eyes widened as the skin beneath the glove returned to a color matching his face. "_He's_ the human representative?" he shouted.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about." She left her position leaning against the wall. "Grab your passport. I have a plane on standby."

* * *

"What the Hell is this thing?" he asked.

She smiled over her shoulder at him as she showed the clerk her passport. "Test unit for a new supersonic jet. A guy owed me a favor," she explained.

He showed his own papers to the clerk before following her. "And you're sure you can fly it?"

"It's this or wait until that city starts receiving commercial flights again," she told him. "Or we could take your pla- oh, right, you broke that. Come along."

"Damned cut-throat gloating ice-hearted…"

After he had secured himself in the black jet's rear seat, Lady asked him, "So what did you mean by 'human representative'?"

"The thing that's kept the world spinning since impact. Some crazy bastard summoned everything he could to act as witnesses to a mutual agreement between Helel, Metatron, and himself to keep things from getting too far out of hand."

"How so?"

"The Dead Sea Treaty. An agreement between Heaven and Hell to keep their war for control off of this plane of existence."

"Doesn't seem like they've been holding to it," Lady commented.

"You'd be surprised at how much worse things could be right now," he told her. "Right now, only certain beings from either side are allowed to come here, and they have to do it under specific circumstances. First, they can't both have a representative here at once. Second, only Hell's Fiends and certain Angels are allowed lead an assault from the base Earth. Anything with a Name from either side will End if they do."

"What do you mean 'end'?"

"A surge of pure destructive energy from Metatron, Lucifer, Ra, Odin, Zeus, Philemon, Mab, Titania… anything he could get, honestly. It'd take millennia to reform after a blast like that and several more besides to actually get back up to snuff. Third, they can only attack human settlements in the pursuit of one of the primary objectives."

"Which are?"

"If I knew, I'd be there protecting them myself. Finally, the representatives can only be destroyed in battle by the will of a human champion."

Her brows furrowed. "What do you mean will? Wanting them to die really badly?"

He sighed. "Not that simple. It'd be more accurate to say that unless a particularly strong willed individual human is the cause, direct or indirect, of the fatal blow, it won't take. It could be killed with fire, ice, lightning, iron, nukes, even by a summoned demon, but one side can't just arbitrarily eliminate the other's representative from above."

"And it's better if humanity has to do the killing for both sides because…" she prompted.

"If it weren't for the agreement, the border between our world and the demons' would have been torn to shreds completely instead of just making a Hellgate in Australia's ruins. Things like Satan and the Hito-Shura would be walking around slaughtering anything in their paths. And every human being would be forced to see everything that happened around them, right up until that thing they refuse to believe could possibly exist bites their damn head off."

"Most of humanity would be eliminated outright," she realized. "And _when_ those things caught up with the survivors, they'd be rationed out as food." Or for other, less savory uses. "But who was it that made the contract?"

"Nobody knows. Some say it might have been Aleph himself. Others say it was the head of SEELE who went in with one little Pixie and cleared the entire continent of demons. And still others want to believe it was the Dark Knight, saving humanity for a second time. Personally, I say it was just some guy that wasn't ready to see the entire world burn like his home probably did."

"How do you know about this Treaty?" she asked as she prepped the jet for takeoff.

"I realize you're just a hired gun that's given all the info on her targets a body could want, so I'll forgive you for not realizing that _some_ of us have to dig through society's cesspool to get the information we might need to stay alive."

Lady smirked in response as the man behind her realized that they were about to take off and he didn't have a helmet.

* * *

Shinji sat in a seat to Gendo's right, listening as the Human Instrumentality Committee continued to berate him.

"One must begin to wonder, Kuzunoha, if you are intentionally weakening our position in Japan," Keel said. "Not only have you usurped Minato's position and privileges, but now you have slain Kyouji as well."

Shinji leaned back in the former Religion representative's chair as he glared at Keel. "Kyouji was associated with a known group of terrorists. It was my responsibility to take him down for that alone, but there was more. He altered the minds of people of influence, attempted to commit mass murder, and managed to summon a Skinwalker before he died." Keel winced under his visor at the mention of the creature. "Besides, I think you've grown a little too used to the idea of using the Kuzunohas as your personal hit men. Our loyalty is not to any of you individually, nor to SEELE as a whole, nor to the United Nations, nor even the Japanese government. Our only obligation is to the kami who blessed us with their aid, and the people of Japan in need of our protection."

He met each of the men before him in the eyes, one by one, until they looked away. Shinji's eyes kept staring into the unflinching eyes of Gendo Ikari behind his tinted sunglasses, telling them, "I don't work for you."

The yellow projection of Science, the balding man visibly shaking, shouted, "This is an _outrage_! Such insubordinate behavior will _not_ be tolerated!"

"Yes," Politics agreed. "Especially after sending that message to the people of Tokyo-3 which violated the Statute of Secrecy."

Shinji smirked at the new charge about to be raised. "The people are already aware that there is _something_ inexplicable by their current standards, as proven by the Angels and your Evangelion project. None of the creatures seen in the video were real, the demons being recreated using hairs acquired by Gouto-douji. What they saw was a young man who had by that point saved their lives four times, proving that he, and therefore his associates, would be capable of eliminating threats to their wellbeing of any nature. It was merely a confidence boosting campaign for a city that has been ruined repeatedly. And besides," he added, "the good and wholly rational people of Tokyo-3 were fully aware that the entire video was a fake. Now, if any of you ancient bastards feel that I need to be removed, don't bother going after my allies, and don't try and send your forces after me; come to Tokyo-3 and face me in person, just as I did the last person to sit in this chair."

Commerce remained silent as Politics and Science backed down. Keel cleared his throat before saying, "Evangelion Unit-02 will be shipped with the UN Fleet to Japan, and should arrive in two weeks time. Meet with me on the Over the Rainbow on November 3rd, just outside of Japanese international waters. We will resolve our dispute then and there."

Shinji stood. "Sounds fine to me." He began walking to the door. "NERV will receive my written report within three days, and will forward it as well as Katsuragi and Akagi's reports."

* * *

"Damned imbecile, what the hell were you thinking?" Shinji muttered to himself as Ibuki hid behind a vending machine. "Shooting your mouth off like that; the old bastard was his _subordinate_ for a _reason!_"

Ibuki wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead as she tried to distract herself. _'Why is it so hot?'_

She trembled as Shinji walked away without noticing her and, putting one shaky foot forward, began to follow. _'It's not like I'm actually following him around,' _she reasoned. _'This is just the quickest way back to Senpai.'_

"Yeah," she whispered. "That'll be enough to keep you safe if he gets upset that you're walking near him."

* * *

Ibuki managed to return to Akagi's lab, if not without notice, then without incident.

"I asked you to be back with that sample quickly, Maya," the doctor said. "What took you so long?"

"S-sorry, senpai," she stammered. "I saw the Third…"

"Stop to have a little chat?" she asked without looking away from the monitor.

The assistant visibly shook at the thought. "No!" she protested. "It's just, he was standing in the hall on the way back here, and he seemed really focused on something, and I just didn't want to… um." _'Get torn to pieces or have my skull smashed in or be decapitated or roasted alive.'_ "Disturb him."

Akagi looked up from her computer with a sigh. "It's okay to say it Maya; you think he's a monster. You're certainly not the only one here to think so."

She began to protest, but paused for a moment to make sure she worded it properly. "I know he is. I can't help but hate him for some of the things he does." She looked Akagi in the eye. "But it's not because of what he is. It's what he _does_. He took the Evangelion, something that _years_ were devoted to, and made it superior in almost every conceivable way with almost no effort. He flagrantly disregards any authority, including the laws of physics, that he himself didn't set up to make himself appear weaker or an ally seem stronger!" She grew quiet before continuing. "And he kills. He goes around acting like some kind of damned hero, going on about how strong humans can be, but killed all those men in Section-2 without batting an eye. Why?" she shouted. "Why can he do all of this and still be around to walk around free?"

Akagi sighed. "I'd like to make it seem like we were dealing with a necessary evil, that we let him walk around because he's a monster pointed at the bigger monsters, but that would be a lie. The truth is, he killed one of the Angels on his own, convinced the First to do whatever he wants, and seems to have taken control of Unit 01." She closed her eyes as she removed her glasses. "Add in that regenerative ability of his, and I'm not even sure we _could_ kill him without taking out the entire continental _shelf_ he happened to be on." Her eyes snapped open as she leaned forward; looking at the contents of the cart Maya had pushed in. "That's why those are so important."

Blood samples from the First Child before being taken (held in records), and after (taken from the scene of the fight with the Abysses during the Hito-Shura's attack), from the Third (entire pools of it left with wanton abandon throughout Tokyo-3), and a piece of one of the scales on Unit 01's arms (recovered after the battle with the 'Fourth' Angel).

"So we can find out exactly how to make the monsters die." She smiled at her assistant as she rose from her chair. "Let's get to work."

"Right," Maya nodded. Her eyes ran over the doctor before asking, "Is that a new belt?"

Surprise flitted over Akagi's features for a moment before answering in the negative. "I've had it for a few years, actually; I've just never wore it down here in the Geofront. Now, bring me the new sample from the First Child…"

* * *

Nanjo's eyes flitted over to the brown-haired driver of the hotwired car, the radio barely drowning out Inoue's snoring from the backseat. "So, why didn't you tell me you made it?"

Suzakuin glanced at the passenger, but said nothing.

"You always were quiet, at least when you weren't ordering us around. Not that it was a bad thing, mind you. Hell, some of my best memories were of hanging out with you guys."

"I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else," the driver said.

Nanjo sighed. "It's a very nice dye-job, and I'll give you credit for the Korean accent, but I'm not an idiot. I recognized the way you used that sword, and I was there to see you Resolve, so don't insult me by sitting there and telling me that you aren't Naoya."

"Would you be happier if I sat here and did nothing as you were accused of being a terrorist, were betrayed by the one friend you had in high places, and had to take the woman you loved into the middle of some god-forsaken woods?" he asked. "Don't worry Nanjo, I won't betray you the way you did to us, but don't go thinking this will be like the good old days."

A minute passed before the spectacled man muttered, "I guess I gave up the privilege of your friendship a long time ago…"

* * *

Touji walked into his homeroom, as he had for the previous week, after a quick visit with his sister. Looking around for a moment, he found himself blinking and rubbing his eyes in the doorway before looking again.

Ken, one of his best friends, was speaking animatedly about something on his computer screen with that… thing!

"But I still can't figure out why this file can't be directly accessed, even though it seems to be one of the most important parts of the whole thing. And even if I could figure it out, the thing doesn't even do the main load of the work on its own."

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked. Computers were one of the few things he found his knowledge insufficient in.

Kensuke sighed. "This is just a client. It takes the commands from the device," he gestured to the COMP on his desk, "sends the input to the server, and receives the finished result. I couldn't tell you much about this thing, even if I could crack it open."

Shinji's eyes widened. "But if it has to connect to the server, then there could be a way to trace the signal, right? That could lead to the server itself, and should have a lot more information, right?" He smirked as Kensuke began typinging with renewed vigor.

Touji sighed at the sight before someone tugged at his arm. "Oh, sorry…" He turned in the doorway to see Hikari. "Class Rep."

She seemed to take a moment to compose herself before telling him, "We need to talk."

He too half a step back as he said, "Well, I know this Chinese place that hasn't had to shut down yet…"

Hikari looked around him to see Shinji and Kensuke speaking. "No. I should have done this sooner, and I won't put it off any longer. It's already too late for Kensuke, but I won't let him sucker you in too." She gestured for him to follow her down the hall, up the stairs, and onto the roof. She sat down on one of the white benches looking out onto the courtyard, gesturing for Touji to sit down beside her. "I'm sure you have questions. So, go ahead and ask."

The young man swallowed as he sat, deciding to start with the big question. "What the hell's going on?"

She chuckled, slightly, but there was no joy in it. "That's actually a good way to put it. Hell. Heaven. And probably about a dozen other factions."

Touji frowned. "You ain't makin' much sense."

Hikari sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just hard to get my thoughts in order. It took years for me to understand what I'm going to tell you, and a good bit of it I had to piece together for myself. We'll start with the biggie." She looked him square in the eyes. "Are you religious, Suzuhara?"

He was obviously taken aback by the question. "N-no. Well, kinda… I mean, I know a few things about a couple, and I'll start screaming in my head at some higher power in my head some times, but I'm not exactly a devout follower."

"Not exactly surprising. Religion hasn't actually been strong since the Industrial Revolution. And it can get so confusing trying to make sense of them all, can't it?" he nodded in agreement before she went on. "But it's true."

"What, religion?" he asked. "Which one?"

"All of them." Touji's jaw dropped. "Don't look at me like that. In the past few months, you've seen demons, Angels, an Aztec fertility god, at least one kami, and who knows what else in this city. Everything that humanity has firmly believed in, all of our religions and fairy tales and urban legends, are true; at least to a degree. Shinto, Hinduism, the Abrahamic Religions, the beliefs of the Norse and Greeks and Native Americans, all of them have brought about beings more powerful than you can imagine.

"You've seen them, but you still don't understand how dangerous they can be. As long as there is still belief, the various gods and demons of the world don't care about humanity. But on occasion, some dark god takes interest in humanity, or a dangerously unstable person comes into knowledge of things that no one should have known about. And when that happens, it becomes our duty to do whatever we have to in order to take them down. Unfortunately, the only reliable way of killing monsters like those is to call more of them. For generations, my family has held a contract with one of the few truly kind gods that allows us to call upon his aid, but the world has grown far too large for us to handle on our own.

"After the Second World War, an initiative began among those with knowledge and power to form an international defense network of people who were able to call upon gods and demons, to train and educate the people before they could be driven mad. A member of my family, Shisui Ikari, helped to coordinate this group for decades."

"Wait," Touji interjected. "Ikari?"

Hikari looked down. "Yes. Just like him. His grandfather in fact. A few days ago, in order to keep himself and several other loose cannons from facing the execution they deserved for their crimes, he exploited a loophole in the contract that our clan, the Kuzunoha, made with Yatagarasu by challenging him for the Name of Minato Kuzunoha. He won, and killed his grandfather in the process. That's how he lost his arm."

"How could he just lose an arm?" Touji asked. "The whole school saw him keep fighting against that thing after getting his freaking heart torn out. Re-growing an arm should be easy in comparison, right?"

"It would, in theory," Hikari admitted. "But it wasn't the fight itself that lost him the limb. He made a contract of some sort with something far stronger than I had ever seen. Gods and demons never give anything away for free," she explained. "All of them want different things. Some will ask for offerings of blood or spirit, others for living sacrifices, services, or even your own life after a limited time. That particular being wanted a part of his body. I don't know why it decided on his arm." She did, actually. The Truth had a sick sense of irony, taking reproductive organs from people who wanted families, legs from people who wanted to be able to stand on their own, the sight of people looking for a better tomorrow… She just wasn't sure what the arm was supposed to signify.

"Anyway, I'm getting off track. Shinji Ikari has conscripted several beings of power, securing alliances with humans, contracting beings that might as well be Almighty from a normal human's perspective, twisted ancient contracts to suit his plans, and bound Angels themselves to him as mere weapons. I really would like to believe he was acting with humanity's best interests at heart; he probably thinks he _is_. But he _isn't _a human being. He's just another power hungry megalomaniac with just enough genuine power to convince himself it's his responsibility to make a drastic change in the status quo. But all those gods and demons and kami and what-have-you seem fairly content with the status quo as it is. If he keeps going, sooner or later he's going to set off a genuine Holy War. And it won't be limited to believers and 'infidels'."

Touji couldn't help thinking that it started like the opening spiel to some weird video game or book, and felt that his long-time friendship with Kensuke Aida would have been sufficient to teach him the correct reaction. "What do you want me to do?"

She looked back at him, eyes wide. "Oh! I'm sorry. I must have come off kind of needy just now. You… don't have to get involved. I just felt you deserved to know what was really happening." She rose and began to walk away. "Thank you," she said as she reached the door. "I've needed someone to talk to for a while now." She froze as she lifted her hand up to the door.

"Class Rep? You alright?"

* * *

"We'll go drop the car off." Yosuke shut the window of the rental car as Souji, Rise, Teddie, and Yukiko walked to the doors of the inn.

"Thanks!" Souji called after his friend. "C'mon," he told the others. "Let's get checked in."

Less than a minute later, four jaws were hanging wide open. "When the _hell_ did people start coming _here_ for vacation!" Two shocked people asked.

"Oh, did I forget to mention? The inn has been doing very well lately."

A minute later, one of the aforementioned jaws dropped again. Souji closed his eyes and went through the familiar process of shifting his own perception to one less likely to set the inn on fire in rage. "So you have _no_ rooms available?"

"I _really_ am sorry, but we're completely booked for the next three weeks," a woman in a kimono told him. "If someone happens to cancel, I'd be happy to give you a call-"

"But that probably won't happen," Souji finished. He sighed as he turned away from the desk. Rise felt his Arcana shift from the understanding of Temperance to the leadership of Emperor.

She frowned at that. If he felt that the situation would actually warrant entering a leader-role, then something must be terribly wrong.

"Bad news, the inn's doing a little _too_ well."

"How can they be doing _too_ well?" Teddie asked. "It looks like business is booming."

"Yeah," Souji nodded. "It's doing so well that there won't be an open room for the next week. So we'll have to do something I'd rather not." He seemed to shiver for a moment.

"Sensei?" Teddie asked, his voice shaking. "What is it?"

"We'll have to go see… _Him._"

* * *

"Ichangedmymind wecansleeponthestreets _DON'TMAKEMEDOTHIS!"_ Souji screamed as he clawed at the dirt of a small and poorly kept lawn.

"How can he be _this_ scared of a human being?" Rise muttered as she gave his leg another tug.

"PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER SENSEI!" Teddie shouted as he pulled at the other leg.

"_I DON'T WANNA!"_

Rise finally reached the door. Fully aware of what Souji would do if she loosened her grip enough to knock on or even kick the door, she took the only option.

There was a rather loud thud as a twenty year old woman slammed her forehead against a door.

It was around this time that Souji took notice of a crucial detail.

There was no car in the driveway.

"YES!"

He managed to slip away as Rise loosened her grip in shock. "You've gotta be kidding me…"

Souji began doing a little victory dance, gyrating and all. He felt the situation called for it. In fact, it called for the dance so much that he didn't even notice the approaching sound of a white van.

It pulled into the drive, a man with obviously graying hair exiting after the engine noise stopped. Unlike Souji, Rise and Teddie were still aware of their surroundings and examined the man. In the two years since they'd last seen him, Ryotaro Dojima's hair had faded into a solid grey, as opposed to the few strands they remembered. Dressed in the faded green shirt and brown tie that was his typical work dress, the detective glared at the silver haired gyrating man that was barely old enough to buy his own beer. He turned his head to face Rise. "What the hell is this idiot doing with two good-looking people on my lawn?"

Souji froze with his pelvis extended, terror clear on his face.

"Hello, Dojima-san," Rise greeted. "We kind of made a last minute decision to come into town, and we didn't know how popular the Amagi Inn had gotten, and Kanji still isn't in town-"

"And Hanamura and Satonaka's apartment can barely even fit their own bed in it," he finished. "Where the hell has she been, anyway? I haven't seen any of you lot for about a month now."

"Well, you know all those weird news reports coming out of Tokyo-thr-"

"I want nothing to do with that. I hereby declare shenanigans or whatever the hell it takes to keep you from talking about it. Good night." With that, he went inside, locking the door behind him.

Teddie checked his watch. "But it's only 8:15…"

Rise sighed. "Come on, I think I saw some abandoned buildings in the shopping district." Or what was left of it, she didn't add.

* * *

"Well, everything appears to be in order Redgrave-san. Are you here for business or pleasure?" the customs woman asked.

"Well, I came over because of a job my associate brought to my attention, but I was hoping to track down a family member I haven't seen for a few years while I'm here," Redgrave told her with a smile.

"Well then, on behalf of Tokyo-3, welcome to our city."

* * *

Pain lanced through Shinji's mind as he fell to the floor.

'_**He's here he'shere **_**HE'SHERE!'**

* * *

His guitar case sitting beside him in the back seat of the convertible, Redgrave shouted over the wind, "So he's been pretending to be a student?"

"Yeah," she answered. "Known alias Shinji Ikari, fourteen years of age, attends Tokyo-3's only middle school that has remained open, known associates include NERV, the kami and, by association, the Kuzunohas, and is rumored to be on amicable terms with the exiled ruler of Wonderland."

"Who?"

Lady sighed. "Just let it be said he's on good terms with a lot of powerful allies. Going after him in the open might not be the best idea."

"Guys like him don't go down quietly." As the school building came into sight, he opened the case and withdrew a massive broadsword with a skull at the center of the cross guard. The car slowed to a stop as they reached the parking lot. Redgrave hopped out and looked up at a window, eyes widening as he felt the familiar presence of the thing he'd fought on that island, the thing that That Man had become.

And it was growing.

He lifted the sword over his shoulder and grimaced at what was about to happen. "Like I said, shit jobs."

* * *

Shinji gritted his teeth together as he grunted out a command. "Rei. Get Horaki, call Al**ice,** call **everyone**. All of you… **OUT!" **His eyes flashed a dark blue as another surge of sickening power radiated from his body. _'What the HELL do you think you're doing?'_

'_**He's here and he'll kill us!' **_Vergil shouted. _**'He knows I'm here, you can't get rid of me, and You Cannot Win!'**_

The utter conviction behind that statement threw Shinji off for a moment, and gave Vergil the tiny opening he needed.

The damaged Seal snapped open, covering Shinji's body with marks of chains as he began making a choking noise. Rei, the only one yet to flee the room, stared as a massive bulge appeared in his left shoulder. A glinting piece of black metal was clear beneath a rip in his shirt, and a scream of pain accompanied the oversized arm of black steel that tore out of his shoulder. The arm was wrapped in grey and purple chains. Blood and spittle fell to the floor as his lowered his head, biting down and tearing the chains from where they were bound around the left arm's wrist. Skin and cloth alike were torn as chains were pulled from beneath his tissue, pieces of his body that lost skin expanding into the familiar black armor of Nelo Angelo. The chains of the Seal torn loose from most of its body, the surviving lengths hung from beneath the flesh of his neck, flung behind him like a cape.

Heedless of Rei, Vergil walked slowly toward the row of windows looking out at the gates.

From the ground, the Man in Red saw the familiar glowing lines that ran along the monster's face. "Well bro?" he shouted. "What have you got planned now? Do I have to climb again or will you come down to me this time?"

From their positions observing the pair, Rei and Lady didn't even see them move. One moment, Vergil was looking down at the man from behind the window, and the next, Nelo Angelo's Zweihander was burning a few inches from the Man in Red's head, his silver sword the only thing keeping the monster from cleaving his head from his skull. "I see you remain as juvenile as ever, Dante."

Dante smirked. "And I see your fashion sense hasn't improved in the least." His shadow shot out beneath Vergil, a perfect copy of Dante's Rebellion stabbing out of the ground.

Vergil disappeared in a burst of blue fire, reappearing above the grounds and ready with a trick his son had developed. The sword vanished as his hands were wreathed in flame and he began to intone. **"Maragilaodyne."**

An enormous wave of demonic fire easily half the size of the city as a whole appeared directly beneath him, and began to descend toward the school.

Dante gritted his teeth as silver flashed before the eyes of everyone in the city for a moment, and the flames dissipated. He grinned. "You never did come up with a counter for that, did you!" he shouted into the sky.

A blue flame roared to life behind the red-coated man, and Dante spun around to parry Vergil's stab. He kept turning, bringing Rebellion around for another strike only to be met with that oversized blade. Vergil leaned forward as he pushed for leverage.

"I must confess, little brother, I always did enjoy these little bouts. They serve as a rather effective measure for me." The monster smiled as it asked, "Do you remember what I said, atop the tower all those years ago?"

_Vergil twisted the blade in his little brother's gut. "Foolishness, Dante." He pushed the katana further in. "Foolishness. Might controls everything. And without strength, you cannot protect _anything._" Was that a tear in his eye? "Let alone yourself."_

"This child has gone further in this pursuit than either of us ever _dared_. He took a limitation that should have prevented the use of any power at all, and used it to gain the control to actually work magic in combat." He grinned, seeing it more as a sign of his own superiority being passed down than any pride in the boy's achievement in and of itself. "He's done very well preparing the organic components. And such a _fascinating_ thought process."

Dante staggered for a moment. _'Child?'_ The momentary slip in concentration gave Vergil the chance he needed to knock Rebellion out of his hands. Dante leapt just out of range of a swing from Vergil's blade, pulling out a contrasting pair of black and white M1911 pistols. A tiny amount of power flowed from his hands into the guns before a barrage of bullets flew at Vergil, the vast majority bouncing off his metal armor and the occasional tilt of his head being all that was required to avoid actual harm as he approached.

"Are you still bothering with those useless things?"

Dante smirked. "It's called a distraction, dumbass."

Vergil's eyebrows shot up before he spun around, knocking Rebellion off its flight path into his back with another swing of his sword. He felt a sharp poke against the armor over his spine as Dante rammed the barrel of a sawed-off shotgun into his back. The buckshot made him stagger forward, giving a moment of distraction for Dante to toss the shotgun aside and pull out a pair of matching short-swords held in a reverse grip. One blue, one red, each with a skull at the bottom of the hilt, the eyes of each alight in the same color as their respective blades.

Dante began to spin in place, swords outstretched, as fire and wind gathered around the red and blue blades. The tiny jaw of the red skull opened as a heat vortex built around the two brothers. _**"Ashes to ashes!"**_ it cried. Wind from the second was enclosed in a small layer around its wielder's head, keeping him from suffering from the lack of oxygen. Vergil appeared unaffected by the flames, so Dante tried a new tactic. The fire cut out as a surge of wind knocked Vergil back with enough force to dent the armor. _**"Dust to dust,"**_ the second blade monotonously said.

Dante jumped into the air above the disoriented swordsman, flipping to look down the sights of his pistols and spinning as he fired a rain of bullets down at Vergil's head, momentarily reducing it to a red mush before regenerating. He plucked Rebellion out of the air, creating a platform and kicking off to rush straight down and stab through his brother's armored shoulder.

Gloves seemingly made of pure light appeared on his clenched fists as he delivered a right hook to his foe's jaw, knocking him back as he jumped up and kicked the hilt of Rebellion far enough through to pin him to the ground. Vergil roared, tearing loose of the sword and delivering a haymaker of his own. Dante sidestepped, knocking Vergil's right arm aside with his forearm as he leaned out of the way of another sword-swing. He ducked beneath Vergil's kick, knocking the sword aside with his gloved hands whenever it grew to close.

"**Fight. Back!"** He panted between swings. Dante smirked he knocked another swing aside, dancing around his brother to where Rebellion still stuck out of the ground. Glowing blue eyes bright with the thrill of fighting _him again_, Vergil swung his sword down over Dante's head with all his might. Dante smoothly stepped out of the way, saw the opportunity he'd been presented with as the sword was stuck in the ground, grabbing Vergil's other arm just above the wrist in his own left arm, and dismissed the gloves as he pulled the white pistol out.

Dark energy gathered from deflecting the strikes swirled around his arm, rushing into the chamber of the gun. Vergil released his sword in a failed attempt to do something to stop him before-

"Jackpot!" Dante shouted his victory cry as all of the pent-up energy was released and slammed into Vergil's chest, sending him flying though three blocks of buildings and landing in a crumpled heap, and Dante grinned despite the recoil that had pushed his arm behind his back and nearly torn his arm out of his socket.

Pain lanced through Vergil's mind as Shinji pressed an advantage Dante had unknowingly provided. _**'What are you doing?'**_ he demanded as their body hit the ground.

'_Taking… My… Body…' "BACK!"_

The only person willing to venture closer, a brunette detective coming off an eighteen hour shift, approached the crater in the wall the Nelo Angelo body had left to see it seemingly in a spasm, muttering nonsense phrases and clawing at its head. He pulled his gun out of its holster, flipped the safety off, and told it, "I don't know what the hell you are, but you're under arrest. Lay down on the ground and put your…" He trailed off. _'Hands? Claws?' _he wondered. "Lay down with you limbs spread," he ordered.

The monster began crawling toward him. "Stop now or I _will_ open fire." It didn't stop. Seven shots bounced off its shoulders, three bullets pushed the head back, four shots into its neck, and one last bullet through the right eye. It still didn't stop. Realizing the pistol would more likely than not be useless; he tossed it aside as he turned to run.

The two controlling consciousness' busy fighting for dominance, the body had been reduced to baser instincts. It saw something that had intruded in its territory and assaulted it turn to flee, and dove after it. Peripherally aware of the situation, Shinji pushed for control and gained just enough to feel his right claw tear into the officer's back. A bright set of blue eyes widened in shock as a darker brown set were clenched shut in pain. Shinji shakily removed the armored hand that dripped blood onto the road. The officer collapsed with a hole where his heart had been, and indisputably fatal wound.

Jaw set in determination, Shinji began carving runes into his own neck with the bloody claw. _**'Don't!' **_the other presence shouted. '_**That can't be undone without the blood of the same man or true Death! STOP!'**_ Red light flashed as Shinji finished the seal; the armored form of Nelo Angelo fell away to the one-armed but otherwise healthy body of Shinji Ikari, a red chain of still-wet blood around his neck.

The white pair of pants reformed around his bare legs, and a distant purely analytical part of his own mind noted that the things in his pockets would also reform. He turned the officer over, memorized his face, and withdrew two coins to hold his eyelids closed. Shinji took in the brown suit, blue tie, and bloodstained white shirt for a few moments until a man in a red trenchcoat dashed onto the scene through a hole in another building.

Dante looked at the young man before turning his gaze to the dead man on the ground. A tugging feeling in the back of his mind distracted him, making him wonder what he was missing before the kid shoved a pistol under his jaw. He felt a knife run through his neck and behind his ribs before Shinji fired a shot, a bullet passing through his skull as a burst of flame filled the hole with burns and charring the lower half of his face. The force behind it knocked him back, the knife at the end of the weapon tearing out three ribs that would quickly be regenerated.

Shinji allowed the pistol to disappear as he reached within himself for Shamshel, but the formation of the weapon was interrupted as the world around him turned silver. He felt something run over his skin as the colors shifted and everything stopped moving. _'Mercurial lemegetonite,'_ he identified the substance, better known as Quicksilver. Unable to move, he saw Dante calmly walking back with his sword drawn.

A single hair in front of his eyes twitched, and he realized what had happened. Dante had emitted a surge of mercurial lemegetonite, producing the compound with demonic power and using it to slow time to a crawl around him. But time couldn't be stopped completely without working a _major_ deal with a high-powered god. As Dante grew closer, Shinji's thumb moved millimeter by millimeter as he formed the rest of the array in his mind. The digits finally connected when Dante began to bring the sword around, and Shinji pulled in a segment of the compound and infused his own magnetite, forming a blue shell around his body with silver lines along it. He dashed forward, his own compound cancelling out Dante's as he slammed his head into the larger man's stomach. He brought his fist up in a devastating uppercut that knocked one of Dante's teeth out of his mouth, but the older man recovered quickly enough to bring Rebellion around in a swing.

Shinji ducked beneath the swing and pushed an extra bit of magnetite into his fingers and toes, converting the digits into claws as he brought a foot up and cut into Dante's right arm. Dante ended the Quicksilver and ripped his black pistol out of its holster on the back of his jeans, firing a round into Shinji's head to test the armor as he leapt back. The bullet looked like it may have chipped away a tiny bit, but it repaired itself too quickly to be sure.

More magnetite filled in the hollow spaces left by the Quicklsilver, and Shinji allowed the claw of his hand to return to fingers better suited to wield a weapon. A burst of flame appeared in his hand as Nelo Angelo's zweihander appeared in his hand. Shinji ran forward, swinging the sword from above as Dante held Rebellion with both hands in a block. He grinned despite himself. "Not bad kid," he complimented in English. "Now what the Hell do you think you're doing?"

"So you're really Dante," Shinji replied without answering. "I'd heard about the kind of destruction you tended to cause in fights, but the wanton disregard for the lives of bystanders gets a lot less attention than it should."

"You're one to talk. You let a murderous bastard like him in, and given your reaction to that guy, I'd be willing to bet you've got a lot of mortal blood on your hands yourself." Dante kicked the smaller combatant in the chest, knocking him back a couple of feet. Shinji tried to bring his sword into a solid defense, but Dante continued to knock it aside and push him towards a wall. Realizing that the mag armor, despite its utility, was weighing him down, he allowed it to fade back into himself as he finally brought his sword into a position he could hold, just before being pushed into the wall of a building.

"Don't act so righteous. You know as well as I do that there are several dozen humans that need killing." Shinji narrowed his eyes. "I realized my nature long ago and turned it to something productive. You don't ever do a damned thing about the 'strictly human' problems. You've convinced yourself that things like us should stick to the sha-guh," he grunted as bolts of lightning ran down Dante's arm and coalesced into a black blade with a guard shaped like the wings of a bat and used it to stab through Shinji's forearm.

"Word of advice kid: never actually get into an argument with someone during a fight like this, words only serve to distract your opponent." Shinji dropped his weapon as Dante pushed forward, stabbing his second sword into a building to pin his foe before leaning down and picking up Shinji's blade. "This is some fine craftsmanship," he noted. "Now, I have a few questions for you kid. Starting with why that bastard is still around, and how you got hold of a sword that disappeared with his body."

"Rei! Now!"

A quizzical look passed over Dante's features. "Sorry, my Japanese isn't too good. Could you repeat that?"

In English, Shinji gave a short, "Sure." He took a deep breath, exhaling with a stream of fire that set Dante's jacket ablaze. He tried to step back, but fell backwards when his feet refused to move.

'_What the hell?'_ He pulled himself up to see a layer of ice over his combat boots that held them to the sidewalk. He followed a trail to see a young girl in the local junior-high's uniform, though the shirt had far too many buttons undone to meet the dress code of the school. More importantly, her palms were pressed flat against the road where the ice seemed to begin and _'Is her hair blue?'_

Rei gestured to Shinji as she intoned, "Rakukaja." The bolts of electricity running along Dante's second blade, Alastor, suddenly seemed far less important. Shinji pushed his arm forward, the blade, elaborate hilt and all, passing through the arm in about a second. Electricity still running along Alastor, Shinji pulled it out of the wall and prepared to run it through Dante's chest. As Rei saw the ice on his feet begin to crack, she cast a "Sukunda," dropping his reaction time enough for Shinji to force the blade through Dante's stomach.

"So you have a friend," Dante noted.

Shinji stomped on the arm gripping the larger sword with a satisfying crunch, picking up his sword as he commented, "Yeah, I know a couple of people here, actually. Now, I've got something I want to ask you." Seeing him preparing to rise, Shinji shouted to Rei, "Hold him down!" Spears of ice appeared in the air and forced their way into Dante's arms and legs, rendering him immobile. Shinji dismissed his sword, reached down, and gave a sharp tug that tore just a little more flesh, pulling Dante's head up as he calmly asked, "Who hired you?"

"Sorry, client confidentiality is kind of a big thing in this business."

Shinji's eyes narrowed. "Tell me what I want to kno-" The missile to the face cut him off. After a moment pulling a rather convincing impersonation of Harvey Dent and pulling a large piece of shrapnel from his left cheek, he followed the trail of smoke left by the projectile to see Lady swing a massive missile launcher back over her shoulder and pull a pump-action shotgun out of a golf-bag. She chambered a shell, lined up a shot, and pulled the trigger to unleash a gout of flame that hit his chest hard enough that it could have bruised.

Seeing that the flame itself had done no damage, Lady tossed the gun aside and pulled out another as she shouted, "Now!"

Shinji looked up as he heard a woman shout a battle cry, seeing a blond with shoulder length hair dressed in tight leather pants and a matching black corset. More importantly, she was falling in his general direction with a curved sword in hand. The blade itself started even with the bottom of the hilt, curving up and attached to a structure that strongly resembled a grey bone using some form of organic tissue. His eyes widened as he felt the power emanating from the Devil's Arm, felt the eons of accumulated demonic power festered within, waiting to be unleashed.

And it was about to come down on his neck.

Shinji called up Order, extending the blade to its full length and bringing the weapon up in a block.

He might as well not have bothered. The blade came down, smashing through the Mag blade like a behemoth through a log cabin. Shinji leapt back to what he thought was a safe distance, only to be proven wrong when the woman stabbed forward. The blade propelled forward as the bone it was mounted on extended, shifting seamlessly from a sword to a spear. Shinji spun to his left as the woman pulled the Devil's arm back. The blade shifted at the end of the bone, turning into a scythe as she swung again.

Shinji jumped over the swing, breaking into a cold sweat as he realized exactly what the woman had in her hand. _'Gonna need more firepower,'_ he noted to himself. Reaching into himself, he brought his contracts to the forefront of his mind. Black lightning crackling down his arm, he swept his arm while firing at the blonde. _"Alice! Minaho!"_

The pair of demons manifested, radiating dark power. Alice's gaze snapped between Dante and the sword in the woman's hand before asking, "Are those who and what I think they are?"

"Yeah," Shinji answered. "The younger son of the Dark Knight and the sword the big demon himself imbued with his power."

She gave an irritated little growl. "Oh for the Jabberwock's sake, if it's not as dull all hell, you're getting me into shit like this." She glared at the blonde. "Fine. Bring it on bitch!"

Shinji rubbed at his brow. _'Rei's been a bad influence on the little queen.'_

"Hey, Trish!" Dante greeted with a smile. "What brings you over here?"

"I thought the nice lady over there could use some help that wasn't an idiot," she answered while eyeing Alice. "You want a hand with those?" she gestured to the ice running through his limbs.

"Could you?" he asked as if she'd offered to pick up a loaf of bread on her way over.

She sent an electric pulse into the four thin pillars, shattering them.

"What, not gonna pull this out for me?"

"It won't be the first time you've done it, you big baby."

He sighed. "Fine." Dante clenched his teeth as he force his body up, the sword not budging and inch as muscle and bone were separated while he passed through the hilt. He turned around and picked up the bloody sword. "You're more trouble than you're worth." He dismissed the weapon, though he was sorely tempted to simply through the thing as far away as he could. Lady approached the two, a SMG and pistol aiming at Rei. Dante tore off the tattered remnants of his red coat and black t-shirt, tossing them aside in disgust. "Well look at that kid, I've got friends too." He pointed the tip of Rebellion at the 'kid'. "Time for round three."

* * *

In case you've somehow missed it, things are about to get worse. Hell, I can't justify not labeling this story as a tragedy with how bad this will end up.


	21. Round Three

Despite his heavy boots and several layers including a blanket and a white hood, the man couldn't help but shiver. A few feet behind him, dressed in red and white striped pants, a matching hat, with a blue coat over his white shirt and red bowtie, an elderly man looked at him in disdain. "You humans are so fragile," he rasped.

Through chattering teeth, the man in the white hood managed to answer, "It's good to have to deal with fragility. Teaches us to be careful," he told his companion lightly.

The more eccentrically dressed of the pair scratched at a scraggly beard as he looked over the wooden side of the warship at the Dead Sea. "Mind telling me why you wanted us to sail all the way out to this gods-forsaken place?"

From one of many pockets beneath his blanket, the hooded man pulled out a piece of chalk and exposed his right arm to the cold. Shaking slightly, he began drawing a pentagram on the wooden deck. "It was here where the world was changed. Here where Adam died. Here where balance was destroyed. Surely you've noticed. The entire world has entered a period of rampant growth along with this never ending summer. Humanity's population should have begun to grow again by now, especially with all our recent innovations, but it hasn't. Newer, stronger strains of diseases have been appearing, keeping the population stable, because the cold of death has been unable to reach the places they develop in." The eccentrically dressed man could have sworn his shipmate's eyes were glowing under his hood. "This place, the origin of that imbalance, is the perfect spot." He finished by drawing a pair of circles around the tips of the array.

"For what?"

The hooded man smiled. "To restore the balance." Palm open and forming the necessary protective barrier with the circle, he uttered one single word. One Name. One syllable that, to those possessing the correct information, could send even the bravest of men crying for their mothers in a corner.

"**MAB"**

* * *

Shinji took note of the dark clouds rolling in. There would be a storm soon.

How troublesome.

"Alright you three," he instructed. "Let's wrap this up quick. Alice, keep the blonde busy. Minaho, take the brunette down then back Alice up. Rei, keep back and take advantage of any opportunity you see. No mercy." He aimed Order at Dante. "He's mine."

Nothing remaining on his upper body, it became apparent that the man in question had not actually been holstering those pistols but just tucking them into the back of his jeans. He pulled out the black pistol with his left hand, nonchalantly holding it with the barrel pointing toward the sky. "Tch. You got a big pair on you kid, I'll give you that much."

Shinji didn't bother answering, instead firing a single bullet at Dante. The Son of Sparda tracked the bullet's path, firing his own shot into the projectile's path even though something about it felt wrong. His eyes widened as he realized he'd missed, and pieced together what had happened. That Sukunda earlier had done more than just slow him down, it had also dulled his reflexes.

'_Not good,'_ he decided as the young man dashed toward him with that weird knife-gun-thing.

To his left, Trish prepared a blast of lightning but was distracted by a cry of "Megido!" She dove out of the way, but felt a stabbing pain through her left leg. She looked down to see that the missed attack had destroyed piece of road barely smaller in diameter than she was tall. Several pieces of metal had been knocked up, among them the rather large piece of metal now embedded in her leg. She grunted as she pulled it out, glaring at the offending demon.

Almighty power gathering in one hand and Darkness in the other, Alice smirked. She raised the hand imbued with darkness in a universal gesture for 'Come on'. Then she flipped the taller demon off.

Trish threw bolt after bolt. "Hold still you little bitch!" Alice skipped down an alley and out of sight, Trish in hot pursuit.

The Black Frost lumbered forward, moving much faster than seemed possible, charging on a war path to Lady. The Devil Huntress in question reached into her golf-bag and pulled out another shotgun, loaded with an incendiary round that proved ineffective against Minaho's demonic body. The barrel of the weapon slightly warped and fully aware that another shot could blow back into her face, she tossed the now-useless gun aside and pulled out a pair of semiautomatics.

Shinji ducked beneath another swing of Dante's enormous sword, using Order to fire an enormous blast of kinetic energy into the older man's chest, sending him flying down the street. Shinji's eyes widened as Dante blurred, disappearing before him. He spun around and met Rebellion with Order's blade, glaring into his opponent's grey eyes. "That is unfair on _so_ many levels."

Dante jumped back as Shinji fired a shot that grazed his shoulder. Rebellion glowed with power as Dante swung forward, a shockwave ripping through the air and cutting into Shinji's stomach. The damage only winded the younger of the two, but it was enough for Dante to smother the small fire on his shoulder. "And the fact that you keep setting me on _fire_ isn't?"

Shinji's lips parted in a manner that a few generous people might call a smile. "Sorry." A white cloak manifested over his shoulders. "Let me put that out for you." Dante took just a second too long blurring out of the way and, as a result, reappeared behind Shinji with his weight on his remaining leg.

As his left leg reformed inside the few intact strips of black denim that had moments before been his left pants leg, Dante shouted, "What the Hell!"

By way of reply, Shinji sent another stream of acid flying toward Dante. The elder pressed his sword against his back and pulled out a tripartite nunchaku, the sticks of ice connected by individual chains to a metal ring. Gripping the ring, he swung Cerberus over his head against the ground, freezing it and raising frosted spikes that continued along Shinji's stream. The younger man's eyes widened as the ice reached him, spreading over his cloak and holding him in place. He grunted in frustration, preparing a burst of flame to free him as Dante appeared beside him and knocked him free with a blow that smashed his skull in.

Shinji's shoulder left a dent as he bounced off the road and through a glass window. As the optical nerves reconnected to his brain, he saw Rei running up behind Dante. He tried to tell her to stop, but his jaw refused to move. The world faded to black as the girl jumped onto Dante's back, electricity running down her arms while she slapped her palms against his temples.

* * *

Rei twisted in the air, kicking off a platform and landing crouched with her back to Alice's. Panting, she told the other demon, "Shinji's down and isn't healing, but he's alive." As she saw Dante approaching with Rebellion in hand, she asked, "You want to switch?"

Alice's eyes widened as she felt the buildup of energy accompanying Trish's swing of the sword. Instead of answering Rei's question, she grabbed her by the wrist and threw her over the arc of crimson energy. She then spun as she ducked beneath the blast, waited for Dante to sidestep it, and dashed forward with a ball of white energy in her hands. "MEGIDOLA!"

Rei landed on the ledge of a corner grocery store. Taking a moment to reorient herself, she dove forward at Trish's back. The blonde in question spun around, ready to cut the child's head off. Rei kicked off a platform, going over Trish's head and running her hand against the ground behind the woman. The edge of the sword almost glowing with demonic power, Trish turned to swing again only to lose her balance on the ice Rei had created.

The younger girl crouched on top of Trish, knuckles being covered with frost before a series of punches to the face repeatedly broke her nose. As Trish spat out a mouthful of blood and reformed her nose, Rei asked, "What's wrong? Don't you want to _touch_ me?"

Trish growled as Rei covered the sword with ice. She let go, grabbed the girl by the neck, and threw her off. She winced as the blare of sirens began, distracting her from the formation of another electrical blast. Someone must have put word out to NERV. Her eyes flashed as a golden aura appeared around her. "Playtime's over, you little bitch."

Rei felt the resonance between their Absolute Territories collapse, and withdrew the energy to reinforce a wall of ice between them with her AT-Field. Trish dashed forward, smashing Rei's makeshift shield to pieces with a blow that followed through to snap her neck and send her flying.

Dante leaned back as Rei flew in front of him, Trish not a moment behind. With an almost casual swing of his sword, he sent a Drive tearing toward Alice. "Looks like your little friend is having some trouble," he noted.

Alice drifted out of the way and hurled a Megidola in retaliation. "That kid's tougher than she looks."

Dante skeptically raised an eyebrow as a fifteen story apartment complex collapsed. "If you say so," he acquiesced while watching a golden blur shoot out of the building and throw something that was still generally humanoid in shape. He stuck his thumb out behind him. "So what's my big brother been up to? Why's he pretending to be a kid?"

"That young man has been dealing with demons since before he hit puberty, and putting up with threats to his mind and soul from your 'big brother' for just as long, because you couldn't be bothered to make sure he was completely dead!"

Dante stopped his sword mid-swing. "Oh, uh… Well, shit. I think there may have been a miscommunication."

"Then you'd better hurry up and fix it before you go past what Shinji's willing to tolerate."

Dante couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. "What _he's_ willing to tolerate? He doesn't get to decide what he's willing to put up with unless he's the strongest bastard around. And that may be what he's used to, but right now, it's not."

It was Alice's turn to laugh now. "That kid is one of the most conniving things I've ever come across, and I've seen Nyarlathotep while sitting down the table from the Devil himself. And he still has a lot of potential for growth in raw power, to boot. You realize that he put up that fight purely on his own still growing power? Get a better look at his neck, there's a modified seal there now that will keep Vergil under control unless he makes a conscious decision to do so."

Dante blinked. "I'm gonna go call Trish off and see about talking with the kid. Go get that Black Frost and Lady if you can find them."

* * *

The sirens woke him up. Blood ran down into Shinji's eye while he struggled to his knees. _'I'm not regenerating,'_ he realized. With that piece of rather vital information, he began self-diagnosing. _'Lacerations along scalp and face, possible damage to ocular nerves, L3 and L4 are possibly cracked, almost everything not broken or cut is bruised or sprained. Too bad,'_ he told himself. _'You don't get the luxury of waiting for someone to heal you.'_

Letting his emotions swell up, rage leading the group with injured pride coming as a close second, he pulled himself to his feet as something blurred past him. Well, that would be the description of what someone with human limitations to their perception would have seen, at any rate. Time seemed to slow as he recognized Rei's limp body passing in front of him.

With a roar of demonic wrath, he dashed out of what had been the lobby of some office to see Rei knock up a cloud of debris as she slammed into a ruined building.

Trish skidded to a halt when she saw him standing in her path, building a blast of electrical power in her hands as Shinji's rage went past his limit. The crystalline purple veins within his body split open, unfiltered white blood pouring through his body. His eyes shining with demonic blue light, he ran as fast as he could at Trish. The thud of his hand slamming against her throat was drowned out by the sonic boom.

Heedless of her fingernails digging into his arm and the thousands of volts flooding through them, he just gripped tighter as his left side moved back, almost as if he were about to-

Dante and Alice looked up as an enormous blue and white fist rose from nowhere, a fading streak of yellow speeding out of the city. Alice whistled. "Looks like that apology had better come quickly."

When she looked back to where Dante had been standing, there was only a small cloud of raised dirt and dust. The man in question reappeared in an alley, looking at the state Shinji had worked himself into. Blue energy whipped around him, any shadows wiped out by the light from his eyes and the glowing, transparent blue and white arm protruding from his left shoulder.

Shinji slowly stepped toward Rei, not wanting to believe what he was seeing. Not wanting to admit that that bloody, contorted, unmoving body was hers. His breaths grew short, ragged, as he turned around and met Dante's eyes. His brow narrowed as he raised his right hand, open palm facing the sky. The sound of shattering ice met Dante's ears as he saw his father's sword soared through the air, landing in Shinji's waiting hand. Even greater power coursed through him as he closed his eyes, reveling in the feeling. **"Sparda…"** he breathed.

Dante rolled his eyes. "Not this shit again," he muttered. Louder, he ordered Shinji, "Alright kid, just put the sword down and we can discuss this like calm… rational…" he trailed off as he saw the blue energy condensing around the blade of Sparda's sword.

Shinji smiled as he brought the sword down, launching a much larger version of the Drive that Dante had used against him earlier. The Son of Sparda raised his hands in an attempt to catch the wave of energy and turn it back against the kid. The man grunted as he was lifted off his feet and knocked back, still trying to absorb the wave even as it began to tear his hands apart.

Shinji watched the man as the wave carried him back. **"Time for Round Four."**

The blast carried Dante across two blocks, finally stopping by slamming him against a building with enough force to actually _crack_ the steel support beam. He landed in a pile of black slush, only a few feet away from Lady. "Are you having a little trouble with yours?"

Expecting some kind of joke about her having the easy job of killing a snowman in the summer, she was taken aback for a moment when the first word from Dante's mouth was, "Run." Dante picked himself up from the ground, turning in a way that allowed Lady to see that his normally grey irises were a deep crimson. **"Get out of here. Now."**

As a glowing tendril shot forward and wrapped Dante to the exposed beam, Lady withdrew a grappling pistol and fired it into the distance, being pulled away as Shinji pulled himself to Dante. The other end of the tendril held in his glowing left arm, his right reached out to stab Dante with his own father's sword. A moment before the tip of the blade would drive through his chest, a flash of red light was emitted from his body.

The distinct _clang _of metal striking metal rang in the air. Confusion on his face, Shinji tilted his head and took in the details of the new creature standing before him. Dante's chest had disappeared beneath a black shell. In the center of the chest area, a fiery orange light leaked out through what looked to be a hole with cracks running out from the edges. His arms had been coated with a dark gray metal, massive spikes protruding from his shoulders and three progressively smaller spikes reaching down to his uncovered, slid black hands. His legs and feet had been similarly darkened, and the ends of the latter had shifted from five knobby appendages to three sharp claws. From his plated neck, a wide, red, leathery strip hung down past his knees in a manner no doubt inspired by his traditional red coat. His head was encased in a horned black helmet. Instead of a traditional visor, four slits in the metal layer on either side of the front were what presumably allowed the Devil to see. The same fire seen on his chest burned out through the slits.

A rich scarlet energy flowed around him just as the azure power was seemingly drawn out of the air and into a current around Shinji. The younger of the two monsters swung with the sword. Dante raised his arm, easily tearing apart the tendril that Shinji's Shamshel had tried to hold him down with, and knocked the blade containing more power than could be brought to bear by most gods aside with only the slightest apparent effort.

Shinji released Shamshel as he brought his left arm back for a haymaker. Dante caught the fist with one hand, the force of impact creating a booming shockwave that bent the pillar behind him. The younger brought Sparda's sword up with another swing, but Dante grabbed his other wrist and lifted him off the ground. It occurred to Shinji just how much larger Dante now was as his feet dangled uselessly level with the Triggered demon's knees, suspended by a single hand wrapped around both of his wrists. Free hand crackling with visible demonic power, Dante swung his fist into Shinji's chin as he released his wrists.

Shinji rocketed into the air, but regained just enough sense of mind to create a platform in his path, kicking off it straight back down at Dante. He raised his armored forearms over his head, blocking the sword brought down on him with enough force to leave him standing in a metal bowl in the alley.

Shinji kicked at Dante's chest, falling back to the rim of the depression and charging right back at his uncle, sword dragging along the ground. He moved around the armored giant in a circle, dragging his feet and swinging erratically. Dante would have smiled if his current form had a mouth. The kid was finally wearing himself out, and they could sit down and have a nice, productive chat. As the boy retreated back to the rim again, panting and soaked in his own sweat, Dante looked him in the face. Cold, animalistic fury filled his eyes. Such a pity, it seemed the boy had given in to his demonic nature in a moment of weakness.

This thought was flung from his head as he heard the voice of a young man. One filled with power, to be sure, but the boy seemed to have managed to keep enough of his sense of self to remain capable of sleep. **"There are two places people never look,"** Shinji said. Dante tilted his head in confusion as he went on. **"Directly over their heads-"** at this, Dante obligingly looked up to see that the platform had not dissipated but expanded. It was now easily large enough for a large sofa to fit through, and he himself could probably fit just as easily. It was also now covered in slightly glowing runes, looking almost like a- The slits that formed in his eyes widened as Shinji finished his comment,** "- and the ground on which they stand."**

Shinji seemed to crumple to the ground, slamming his palms against the rim of the depression and triggering the transmutation array he'd carved out with his 'haphazard' movements. A section of the ground rapidly rose, carrying Dante into the platform Shinji had bastardized into a portal to the Dark Realm. Shinji smirked as he ran up the column, following his uncle into the Dark Realm created by their common ancestor.

Closing the rift behind him, Shinji looked through the dark mist of the world to see a patch of red in the distance. Filled with Sparda's power, he whipped Order into existence and took a second to aim his shot. **"Agilaodyne."** A single shining bullet roared out of Order, slamming into Dante's leg and exploding in a glorious burst of blue fire.

Dante spiraled into the ground, landing in a cracked crater. Shinji appeared in the air above him, gun facing down and rapidly approaching point blank range. **"Maragilaodyne."** Channeled through Order, five bullets tore through the air into Dante's chest in a burst of automatic fire, each having the same effect and pushing him further down until a slight gap in blasts allowed physics to follow through and bounce him back into the air. Shinji's mouth cracked into a small smile as he noted a small and healing crack in Dante's chest.

He drove the azure blade of Order into Dante's chest, slipping through the weakened section and finally reaching the actual flesh of the demon. Shinji planted his foot against his stomach, turning them in the air as he cut through Dante's flesh and forced the barrel in after the knife. **"Megidolaon."**

Golden energy of the Almighty blast sent Dante flying. Blood trailing in the air behind him, he came to the decision that a physically strong body that had nearly zero mobility was a bad choice in the current situation. The similarity between the strip of leathery hide hanging over his back grew more prominent as the plate-like shell around his skin seemed to press down against him. The helm was replaced by a spherical shell around his head, a black plate of glass forming over his face. In place of armor, red and black scales covered his body. Skidding to a stop on the ground, one reptilian claw raised Rebellion as Dante stood in a manner indicative of genuine joy at his situation. Sure, the more rational part of his mind wanted to talk the kid down, but he. Was Having. _Fun._

As he realized that he could actually see the entirety of the city from his landing zone, Dante had to admit that kid was good, if at nothing else, with throwing massive degrees of power around. Said kid made his arrival known with another Agilaodyne shot. Seeing that Shinji was making good time behind the bullet, Dante decided it would be a good opportunity to test the kid's reaction time. His black gun appearing in his hand, he fired one similarly charged bullet, setting off an explosion that took out a block of the copy of Tokyo-3.

Dante looked expectantly at the smoke. After a few moments, he had to consider that possibility that he'd overdone it. **"Oops."**

Spotting something flying out of a crumbling building, Dante sidestepped Sparda's sword. Dug into the ground and Shamshel wrapped around its hilt, Shinji yanked the sword out of the ground and back into his hand and sent a Drive at Dante. He leapt over the attack, making a swing at Shinji with Rebellion in midair. Shinji blocked the first swing, but Dante was fast enough to cut into his right side before moving out of sword range.

His side already healed, Shinji spun on landing and let loose a torrent of acid with Matarel. Dante seemed to just fade away just before being hit; reappearing just a little closer. This process went on until Dante was close enough to stab his foe in the stomach, building his sword with the same energy of a drive and releasing it to knock Shinji back into the city.

Landing in a pile of smoke, dust, and debris, Shinji stumbled out of the cloud hacking the airborne mix out of his lungs. Looking at the ground before him and seeing a near luminescent white substance, the part of his mind that wasn't focused on killing the one who set off the attack that killed _his_ Rei (_'damaged my property,'_ he corrected himself) began the inevitable analysis unavoidable after combining his Truth-given knowledge base with his natural drive. _'Sub-conscious emotional buildup combined with energy pool spike from Sparda resulted in a body determined to fight in Triggered state but incapable of fully achieving the effect, forcing a pseudo Trigger state with white blood seeping throughout the body through split purple veins. While this results in a god-like degree of offensive capability, regenerative capacity will eventually be outstripped as vital organs such as lungs, stomach, and brain are completely overwhelmed by white blood and begin to shut down. Death will be unavoidable at this point, mobility and conscious thought will slowly deteriorate. Likely that veins will reseal and a complete recovery possible highly likely if rendered unconscious or otherwise calmed. Doing so will surely result in immediate execution by Dante. Has been deemed a Threat to the Plan. Destruction currently possible via increased power. Backlash of spell will result in death. Possibility previously accounted for. Overall hindrance, 3-5 month delay to Musubi. Timeline may be disturbed by unforeseen difficulties to the members of the Order who remain loyal.'_

Shifting Sparda to the construct forming his left arm, Shinji began muttering a drawn-out incantation, melding the power of Sparda with his own and building a massive degree of power along the edge of the sword. Mixture of Old Norse, Latin, and Ancient Greek rising to a crescendo, Shinji remained calm as Dante dashed toward him. A bead of sweat fell from his chin as Dante grew closer with a Drive building on Rebellion.

As he brought the sword up in assault, Dante gave the 'helpful' advice, **"Find shorter incantations, kid."**

Jarred out of his incantation just as the Drive started to cut into his shoulder, Shinji had just enough time to acknowledge that his foe was right about that before his connection to Sparda was cut, causing an early release of about twelve kilotons of highly volatile energy.

The resulting explosion sent both combatants flying, Shinji immediately incapacitated the blast and even Dante severely disoriented and momentarily concussed.

After returning to his feet, Dante looked out at the smoking ruins of the city with only one word coming to mind.

"_Damn."_

* * *

Leaning on Alice for support, Rei looked up as a thin black line appeared in the air. Dante came through, holding Shinji up by the waistband of his pants in one hand and Sparda in the other.

The red and white blood-covered teen was unceremoniously dropped on the ground as Dante pressed his father's sword to his back. Lady and Trish strolled out of the shadows, fully confident that they would be able to mop up if needed.

If uninjured, Rei likely would have charged straight at Dante and damn the consequences. As it was, Alice still had to squeeze the succubus's wrist to keep her under control. The shorter of the two looked at Sparda's legacy, awaiting the judgment of the one that had proven himself superior.

Dante looked down at the nephew that had been trying to kill him. Upon closer examination of the seal Alice had mentioned, he recognized it. Vergil wouldn't be able to escape from that, ever. And it probably killed whoever 'donated' the blood. He'd proven repeatedly capable of causing massive damage to the world. But…

But he'd shown enough judgment to wait until they were away from people to cut loose, and actually given a good fight. And he'd stood and fought against the Hito-Shura and the Angels, and had obviously begun to organize _some_ kind of group for one purpose or another.

Arguments could be made for either option, and he did what he always did in a tough decision.

Dante fished around in his one intact pocket, pulling out a coin wider than the average bottle cap. He flipped it into the air, waiting for it to come down and make the decision.

* * *

Those who feel that things look like they may be getting as depressing as Evangelion might, fear not! I have found two rather cheerful seeming series by the names of Narutaru and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. They should inspire me to keep things on the lighter side up until all Hell and Heaven and Olympus and Asgard and a lot of other places break loose. If all goes as I expect, I will soon have inspiration for thing


	22. Forsaking My True Self

The man in white grumbled as he pulled his pants up. Returning to the relative warmth of the lower deck, he glared at his demonic compatriot. "Don't. Say. Anything," he told him in a gruff voice.

The man wearing the striped hat ignored the other. "I believe a high five is in order."

"I mean it Sammy Boy. That wasn't what it looked like."

'Sammy Boy's' face drooped a little. "No high five then? Still, something must be done to commemorate this achievement. After all, you did… uhmmm… argh, what's the phrase those youngsters are using now? Ah, yes. You 'tapped dat ass'."

"Sparda's blood…" he muttered. "Is that all you damned Americans can think of besides feeding and fighting?"

The 'damned American' cocked an eyebrow. "You saying there's something more important on someone's mind?"

"Yes, but that would take a long, drawn-out argument over the nature of living beings that would inevitably end with one of us saying that sentience isn't worth the bother. The point is, I did not 'tap dat ass', as you so eloquently put it. Things like Mab are so far beyond the concerns of having a physical body that they don't even really have genders anymore, they're whatever they damn well feel like being. She's only called Queen Mab, and therefore associated with female pronouns, because it spends most of its time in a feminine body. People forget sometimes that 'she' was Merlin's father at some point. Maybe. It's confusing."

"I thought Merlin came about when some incubus nailed a nun."

"Like I said, it's confusing. There are two general accounts, that Merlin was either the spawn of Satan or a child of Queen Mab. The contradicting legends, combined with enough time to be twisted by remaining in Yetzirah instead of returning to Assiah, eventually split the bastard's soul in two, one claiming to be of Satan's lineage and the other from Mab. For the sake of clarity, I prefer to think of them as Merlin Satanspawn and le Fey, respectively."

"So Mab's a hermaphrodite?"

The hooded man sighed. "No. I'm quite certain that that is one thing she has _never_ been."

Sam tipped his hat. "If you say so kid."

Beneath his hood, the man grimaced. He'd turned thirty last month, and he stood a solid inch over the brim of Sam's hat. "Why are you still acting like I'm some damn brat?"

Sam chuckled. "Kid, if you somehow make it as long as I have just in this cycle, everything that can die of old age or is still younger than a century starts to seem like an infant." He gave his young friend a moment to consider that before asking, "So where next?"

The man in white stood still for a moment of concentration. "Weighing their current rate of movement to our own, we should run into them if sail along the southern coast of the North-eastern region of Greece."

"Isn't that place underwater now?"

The man in white smirked. "I just made a deal with the Queen of Air and Darkness, Monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe. What the hell do you think I asked for?"

Sam sighed. "This is why I hate working with you contracting types, only way you seem to know how to get out of debt is to rack up an even bigger one with something it'd be more dangerous to piss off."

"Okay, for one thing, a contract with anything that isn't one of the Old Ones or an Angel is just repurposing the energy of humanity's faith. And second, I didn't make a contract just now, it was a display of dominance."

"Of hers or yours?"

"… Figured a perv like you would be able to tell who was on top there."

"Well I tried, but it was kinda hard to see past all the flying ice and fire and steam and whatnot. But more importantly, if Mab is a dude sometimes, does that make you gay?"

"Wh- _Fuck no_ you twisted son of a bitch!" he spluttered.

"…"

"Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Whatever lets you sleep, kid." Uncle Sam stepped out of the cabin, turned to the sail and, with a mere wave of his hand, raised the Stars and Stripes and filled them with wind. "Gods bless me, I'm good."

* * *

Thunder roared over Tokyo-3 as Dante snatched the coin out of the air and slammed it against the back of his hand. He slowly lifted his hand away, staring as the metal surface of the coin reflected the light of the electrical storm building above him. "Heads." He returned the coin to his pocket, lifted Shinji by his waistband, and asked Alice, "Is there somewhere he'd prefer to regain consciousness, or should I just leave him slumped here in the street?"

Alice breathed a sigh of relief as Rei began giving Dante directions back to the Blue Rose. Lady lightly groaned as she quietly asked Trish, "Is he still pulling that shit with the double-headed coin?"

"What, he claimed to be making decisions that way when you met him too?"

Lady sighed. "I'm not sure it was just an act before he found that weird piece of Macca. You realize how close his shop was to being named as a pun on Daredevil?"

Trish ran a hand through her hair in exasperation. "Freakin. Nutjob."

"Actually, after meeting his relatives, I'm worried he's the sane one."

* * *

_10:43 A.M._

Dojima stumbled out his front door with his tie loosened, one undone button, and his fifth mug of coffee in hand. "You lot are _still_ out here?"

Rise looked away from where Teddie was poking Souji with a stick. "_He_," Souji, "is here still. We're back."

Dojima sighed. "Well, I really don't have the space to keep you three here, but you can at least drag him in for a bit. After all, it'd be a real shame for him to die of heatstroke on his uncle's lawn after all the other crap he's lived through." He walked over, snatched the stick out of Teddie's hand, and ordered, "Gimme a hand here."

After depositing his unmoving nephew on the couch, Dojima turned to the obviously most intelligent of the three and asked her, "So, what was so important that it got your entire little group out of Inaba and then brought most of it right back?"

"W-well," Rise stuttered. Souji was the one that was good at lying his way out of unpleasant situations. "Souji's… built up a lot of, um… time off, so… we thought we'd-"

"Oh, I'm being rude," Dojima interrupted. "You want some coffee or anything?"

"Alright."

"Um, sure."

Dojima nodded at Souji. "He'll probably want one too, once he comes out of that. Give me a hand, would you?"

Rise followed him into the small nook that served as the house's kitchen, and was actually surprised when he said, "I understand that he doesn't want to discuss the specifics, but don't insult my intelligence."

"Huh?"

"It's not like he didn't leave enough clues. And I know that he knows I know, but I'm not sure that he knows that I know he knows that I know, or if he has some plan that might involve me knowing or not knowing."

Rise blinked silently at the man for a few moments before slowly saying, "I have no idea what you're talking about, and if I did then there would be no doubt in my mind that you are vastly overestimating him."

Dojima ignored the steaming coffee in his mug while he gave her a level look. "You remember that he had a storage unit in town, don't you? Right beside Junes?"

She looked down and flushed a little as memories surfaced. Yes, she remembered that tight little space that the others hadn't known about _quite_ well.

Dojima correctly interpreted her reaction as a very firm 'Yes.' "He sent me the key to it a couple of years ago; asked if I'd do him a favor and ship some of the boxes in there to him from time to time."

Rise looked up at that. What could Souji have actually gotten hold of in Inaba that was worth keeping, but not enough to actually take with him or want back immediately?

"So, naturally, I did what any good uncle would do: I used his key, tore open the boxes, and starting screwing around with his things." His mouth curled a bit as he saw Souji shift slightly on the couch. It wasn't like he was actually being quiet about it. Hell, the disturbingly good-looking blond was just staring at him now. "Let me tell you, I've got a whole new measure of respect for what you all were doing if those kinds of things were, and I'm quoting the labels on the boxes here, Supplements, Distractions, and Basic Tools."

Souji got off the couch and joined them in the kitchen. "Well, no point in keeping that particular façade up at this point." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key ring with three keys, removed one, and sat the ring on the table. "You wouldn't have been using those if you didn't need them, and that was one of the smaller caches I set up here a couple of years ago. Those are the keys to the other two, consider them a gift. And if you're having the kind of trouble that those supplies would be necessary for, I'd be glad to provide my 'expertise' for a place to stay."

Dojima decided to address what his nephew said in order. "Smaller? How many of the damn things did you have?"

"I set four up here in case I needed supplies while I was here, and I couldn't exactly walk into your home carrying what amounted to a large quantity of explosive materials, toxic substances, and less-than-legal weapons. One of the keys is to apartment 24C in the complex down the street from Junes, the other is to another storage unit on the same lot as the other. I felt I should be prepared in case of one of many negative scenarios that could have occurred."

"You were seventeen, sixteen when you arrived. How the hell could you pay for all of those places?"

"Hell uncle, you've met your sister and her husband, haven't you?" he asked. "Their approach to child-raising was the same as everything else, throw money until the complaints go away. Not exactly ideal, and it didn't actually help clear up any issues, but it made sure I was able set myself up for independence."

"Wait, wait, wait," Rise said. "Let me get something straight. You," Souji, "aren't paralyzed into fear at the thought of your uncle?"

"No, that was an act," Souji admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. "If I was declared a traitor by the bosses and they took Naoto or you or Yosuke or anyone else, they'd never suspect that I'd go to the town where the only person who scares me shitless lives."

"Bosses?" Dojima asked.

"Specifics that you understand I'd rather not discuss," Souji answered. "Or I could feed you a bullshit line about it being classified which, yeah, it is, but I wouldn't let that stop me for a second if I thought you should know." Dojima nodded.

"And you," Teddie asked Dojima, "didn't commit horribly unspeakably traumatic acts on sensei?"

"No! Damn, Souji; what the hell did you tell them?"

He shrugged in response. "Nothing at all. They just saw how I acted and made their own assumptions."

Dojima grunted as he sat down. "You could've told me _that_ at least," he grumbled. "I've been freaking Satonaka out every time I got near her, and couldn't try and calm her down because it might have screwed up whatever you had going."

"Yeah, I kinda slipped up there," Souji admitted.

"Now, you said something about offering your 'expertise'?" Dojima asked.

"Yeah. You have anything interesting?"

"Well, we get _interesting_ things pretty often, but Satonaka usually hears about it, grabs Hanamura, Tatsumi, and Amagi, and deals with it herself."

"Oh," Souji said, feeling rather disappointed. "But they've been out of town for a while; things have probably built up, right?"

"Not as much as you'd think, the issues that can actually be dealt with are few and far between, and the ones that can't are usually harmless. But don't feel like you have to work off a debt to stay here."

"Oh, so we can stay for a bit?" Rise asked with relief.

Dojima sighed. "I'd _like_ to say that, but we just don't have room, unless you sleep in three different rooms. Souji on the floor of his old room, you bunking with Nanako, and him," Teddie, "on the floor in here. You sure you can't stay in one of those spaces you set up for yourself?" he asked Souji.

"Starting to regret not getting one. The apartment is the only one big enough, and that place honestly should have been condemned before I first rented the place."

"And Amagi couldn't hook you up with rooms at the inn?"

"Completely booked," Rise sighed.

"What about Tatsumi's place?"

Rise and Souji looked up and met each other's gaze. "Could that work?" she asked.

"I believe it could. Kanji still lives in the shopping district, right?"

"Not that there's enough places there still open to justify calling it that anymore, but it's in the same place as always."

"Great!" Souji said. "C'mon you two, let's get moving."

"He _did_ say you could stay there, right? He left you a key?"

"Uncle, please. Do you actually think I would break into my friend's home because of my own failure to make arrangements?" he asked, slightly offended by the question.

"Yes," Dojima muttered.

"Oh, come on." Souji pulled out a huge key ring, dozens of keys hanging off of it. "I'm sure it's one of these." He started out the door, but turned around and asked, quietly, "Kanji didn't get a roommate or something, did he? After the funeral?"

"No."

Souji sighed in relief. "Good. That could have been _very_ awkward."

As they walked away from the house, Rise asked, "Are you happy now that you've finally had an excuse to use that damn prop?"

"Very," Souji nodded. "Now let's go commit unlawful entry."

* * *

Alice glared as she came out of the kitchen. "You lot are still here then?"

From where he was sitting on the couch, Dante told her, "The kid and I need to have a little Talk."

Sprawled over a comfy armchair by the door Shinji had been placed in, Rei spoke up. "If he hasn't had the Talk, I assure you he doesn't need it," she drawled.

He snapped, "Not that kind of talk. Damn succubus," he muttered under his breath.

"So, uh, nice place?" Lady tried to ask one of the people she'd tried to kill.

"Fuck off and die," Alice told her.

"Well _excuse_ me, Princess."

"Lady, stop provoking the millennia old child that could level the city with a hissy fit. Pint-sized Goddess, start a fight and I'll kill you." He waited until both had visibly backed down before adding, "So who else is staying here?"

"Huh?" Trish asked.

"There seems to just be the three of them living here, but there's been about a dozen people running around here."

"How did you know that?" Rei asked.

"I smell them."

"Okay," Lady said. "That doesn't sound creepy or disgusting."

Dante ignored her. Looking over the back of the couch, he asked the more helpful of the two, "So where are the rest of them?"

"All but two were sent off to some place or another, better for coverage. I don't know where the last pair ran off to. They were gone when I got here. Alice might know better than I would."

Turning to the 'Pint-sized Goddess', Dante arched an eyebrow. Alice told him, "They got a phone call, one of them said they'd 'found it' and that 'it was heading for some town in the shticks'. They'd better have a damn good reason for running off," she grumbled.

Dante looked back at the only consistently helpful occupant of the room. "Please tell me you have alcohol."

"Four bottles of vodka, second shelf in the fridge," Rei replied.

"Praise be to Smirnoff," Dante breathed as he stood.

* * *

"I knew the shopping district was doing bad, but _damn_."

"I know," Rise agreed. "Grandma had to close Marukyu and retire a few months ago, and Junes has been taking some of the business away, but this is just pathetic." There hadn't been many shops in 2011, but now? Looking around, the trio saw only a gas station and the conveniently placed blacksmith that never asked questions.

Souji sighed in disappointment. _'Even Igor's closed up shop.'_ Aloud he told the others, "Come on, Kanji's place is a bit up the…" He trailed off as a teenager with a baseball bat slung over his shoulders came over the hill in the direction they were facing. He was dressed more casually, and had let his hair grow out quite a bit, but after four years that kid was still wearing the same style of glasses. After blinking in recognition, Souji called out to the light brown haired student. "Hey, Shu-kun! I know you were being a little more relaxed about school when I left, but cutting class is going a little far!"

Shu leaned the bat against the wall of what had until last year been a convenience store, took out a cloth, and began cleaning the lenses of his glasses. Finding them sufficiently clean and the image he saw unchanged, he broke into a smile. "Senpai! You're back!"

Long bangs pushed out of his face by the wind, Shu ran down hill to see his old friend, the man who brought him out of his shell, the one that without he would still be the same little ungrateful grade obsessed pissant- "Well, I've gotta go. Maybe I'll see you again before I leave."

Souji wrapped an arm around Rise's shoulders, raised one hand in farewell, and walked away, pursued by the disturbingly attractive blond. Shu's bangs fell back over his face, covering a mix of shock and disappointment.

And anger.

"Tch, he stiffed you too, huh?"

Shu looked around. "Who said that?"

"Up here, kid." Shu looked up, seeing the silhouette of a hooded man standing on the roof of what used to be Akoyama's Auto-Repair. "That jackass never has been very good about staying in touch. People like him, they're never humble enough that it'd be wrong for their friends to knock'em down a few pegs."

"What do you mean?" Shu asked.

"That guy, he's got a rare talent. His whole damn personality, all of it, is a fake. Sure, he may have a default, or even some genuine goals of his own, but he has no problem shifting his own beliefs, adapting them for whatever he needs to pretend to be. And he can force others to do the same thing. I could list names if you like. Kanji Tatsumi: Inaba's resident badass, took down the biker gangs on his own when the police wouldn't bother to do a damn thing. Seta comes waltzing in, doesn't like the idea of a bigger badass than him around, and now that poor bastard runs a fuckin _fabric store!_ Then there was Rise Kujikawa: Rich, successful, and beautiful at only fifteen, and her looks only improved. Has a couple of bad days at work, decides to take some time off. Hell, nothing wrong with that, everyone that can afford to takes a vacation when they really need to blow off some stress. So she comes here, a small, quiet town where every damn reporter within a thirty kilometer radius isn't enough to make much of a crowd in her grandma's shop. But then she disappears for a couple of weeks, doing God-knows what, and comes back _seeming_ happier. And hanging out with that little clique Seta's been building since he got here. And look where she is now. Everyone he has a problem with, he takes and twists until they aren't _themselves_ anymore. He makes people into whatever it would please him for them to be, regardless of what _they_ want or even _need._ But you don't need me to explain this to you, you've seen what he does too."

"M-me?" Shu stammered.

"Hell, you're as much a victim as any of us. Look at yourself; you're just that guy with glasses on the baseball team. You're the slowest runner, you strike out more than anyone else, and you can't really throw for shit. You were the _best_ in your school. So what if you got caught cheating? You could always go back, find a way around that, study a little harder, maybe go to a different school… But thinking that what you really need is a 'tutor', your mom brings someone 'understanding' in."

"Souji Seta," he breathed.

"Exactly. You had so much potential when you were younger Shu. What the hell happened? You got a tutor and everything, family life improved, but your grades turned to shit. Honestly, we both know that you aren't good enough at 'ball to get into college with a scholarship, and your family doesn't have that much money. An academic scholarship isn't happening. Have you even been _accepted_ anywhere but that little piss-hole Yasogami Community College?"

"I…" Shu trailed off, unable to refute anything the man said. His shoulders began to quiver.

"Everything beautiful that he touches, he taints. Anything useful, he destroys. And occasionally, once every few thousand times, he goes the other way just to shake things up. He tells himself that it's okay because things turn out fine, but that's only true for him. He _ruined_ your _life!_ What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't…"

The man leapt down from the roof, landing in a crouch and rising to stand a couple of inches over Shu. He put a hand on the teen's shoulder and asked, "Do you want to make him pay?"

Shu nodded, unable to speak.

"I can give you Real power. Something that his lies and tricks won't protect him from, and a lot better for hurting him than a wooden baseball bat." He lifted his other arm to reveal a bone-white hand, though it was clearly still a hand instead of some skeletal construct. Hanging from a chain wrapped around his wrist, a crazily angled gen hung in front of Shu's face. Something about it just seemed wrong. A wave of nausea washed over him and he shut his eyes, turning away from the rock. "All you have to do is look into my little gem here. Everything else will work out."

Shu opened his eyes and looked into the gem. It was smaller than it had appeared, the angles of the cut of the shimmering stone made it seem far bulkier than it really was. Each individual face of the stone seemed to emit a different colored light, many of which Shu was unsure how to accurately describe. Blends of colors that should not mix as they were, light moving in a manner contradictory to what the physics professor had told his class- Did something in it just _move_? Shu clutched his head, feeling something pushing _**[Ripping Tearing Burning INVADING]**_ his mind.

"Welcome to the fold, Shu-kun." The man pulled his hood back, revealing an unnaturally pale man with hair long enough to conceal the upper half of his snow-white face and covered with so much filth it was impossible to discern the original color.

* * *

From behind his friends, Teddie asked, "Does something seem off to you guys?"

Slowing to a stop, Rise looked around and nodded. "Yeah." Pointing at the nearest alley, she told them, "Make a wall."

"What, you can't just do it here?" Souji asked.

Rise sighed. "You know I love you, and I've told you that I wouldn't change anything about you, but I really do wish you weren't acting like we're still a couple of horny teenagers."

Souji raised an eyebrow. "But I don't act like we're a couple of horny teenagers," he claimed as they moved to the alley. "I act like we're a pair of horny consenting adults that are fully aware of the consequences of our actions and have the means to accept them."

Hearing a shriek, Souji turned his head just in time to see a human figure rush toward him. He pushed Rise out of the way, grabbed Teddie's collar, and threw him after her as the figure knocked him to the ground. Souji began taking in details of the thing on top of him as he grabbed its elbows. Pure white skin, stronger than a human being had any right to be, spittle falling out of a gaping jaw onto his face, long hair covering everything above said jaw. He worked his foot up beneath the thing, pushed up, and threw the creature over him as he began running through possibilities. _'Definitely not human. A doppelganger would've taken on a clearer form, but this thing's face is completely blank except for that mouth. Some kind of new shapeshifter out of a nightmare?'_

Seeing how poorly it took the landing, Souji was forced to reassess the assumption. _'No. A demon would've healed that scrape before it even started to bleed. A possession? What the hell could do that with a possession?'_

The alabaster-skinned man howled in pain as its hands were set ablaze. It charged forward, flinging flames. Souji rolled out of the way, making his decision. "You are a clear and present danger to the human population. Return to whatever plane you came from or I will eliminate you." Give it one chance to leave peacefully. If it doesn't, kill it, then have it dissected to figure out what it is and the best way to kill them if more come.

The man charged in response, and Souji just sighed. He'd make it quick. That was the only mercy that the possessed man could be shown at this point.

"Izanagi!" The white god flew forward, swinging its blade and sending bolts of lightning at the man. He leapt out of the path of each, moving with inhuman agility as it leapt from the street, to the side of a building, kicking off it and leaping through the air straight at Souji with its burning arms trailing behind it.

Souji's Persona sent one last bolt flying through the air as the man crossed his arms in front of him. A shimmering blue screen appeared between them and the bolt disappeared. "Damnit!" Souji swore as he dismissed the Persona. The man landed in front of him and swung a burning arm forward, flames singeing Souji's bangs as he jumped back. The Persona User brought Surtr to the front of his mind and felt the strength of the giant with the flaming sword rush through him.

As the possessed man swung a fist forward, Souji smiled as he caught it in his hand and squeezed until he heard the bones in the man's hand break. Being fireproof would also have its benefits. The man's mouth contorted in pain as he fell to his knees. Still smiling, Souji kneed the man in his chin and pulled him up. He released his hand and delivered a devastating haymaker to his chest, knocking him down the street. "Surtr!"

The giant moved forward, stabbing its burning sword straight down and decapitating the possessed man. Souji calmly watched as the head rolled away from the burning body.

The sound of someone becoming violently sick rang out clearly from the alley he'd thrown Teddie and Rise into. "Oh, god… Sensei, you killed him," Teddie said in shock.

"Yeah, I did."

"That's it?" Teddie demanded. "That was murder!"

"It was self-defense," Souji told him. "And that wasn't a human being anymore."

Souji looked like he had something else to say, but was interrupted by clapping from behind him. He grimaced. That hill was being far to annoying today. "That's right, he wasn't human anymore. There was nothing that could be done. You'll never forget that poor individual. You did the right thing," came a mocking, somewhat familiar voice. "After all, you don't have a damn clue how to perform an exorcism. It's really more accurate to say that there was nothing _you_ could do. And that thing about not forgetting him might be kind of tough, since you never saw his face. Maybe you should check for ID before that fire gets so big that it burns up," the voice suggested. "Don't worry, I won't do anything."

Frowning in suspicion, Souji followed the suggestion and began rummaging through the corpse's pockets. He pulled a wallet out of one and found an ID. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the name. "Shu?"

The familiar voice laughed. "He was Tower, wasn't he? They're so much fun, always so close to the edge. Collapsing ideals and all that."

Souji closed his eyes and sighed in regret. "Teddie, there's a lesson to be learned here. Certain people are truly and obviously corrupt, and deserve death for what they've done." He opened his eyes and turned around. "And there are other people who, for the good of the world around them, _need_ to die. I did kill Shu's body, but his mind, his soul, was already dead when he attacked me. The person who did that _needs_ to die, and I shouldn't have let you guys talk me out of it all those years ago. _Now get out here so I can fix that, Adachi!"_

The man in question stepped up to the top of the hill, face covered by a hood. "Is that any way to talk to your old playmate Seta? It really has been too long. Jail is so _boring_."

"_SURTR!"_

Fire rained down atop the hill, heat rushing out and shattering the windows of the buildings around it. Adachi rushed toward Souji, swinging his left arm in an arc in front of him. "Mabafu!" Souji flipped back as a line of ice spikes formed out of the ground. "Gotta do better!" Adachi shouted. He threw an arm forward, creating a column of flame that slammed into Souji's chest and knocked him to the ground.

Souji jumped to his feet, trying to figure out what _the hell_ just _happened._ _'He didn't summon his Persona.'_ He glanced at his surroundings. _'Could there be another one hiding? No, that doesn't make sense, there'd still be _some_ indicator for the summoning.'_ Remembering something Igor had once told him, he fought down a grimace. _'Damn it, even Adachi isn't that crazy, is he?'_ Souji sidestepped a bolt of lightning. _'But their faces… I just don't see another possibility.'_ "Tell me you didn't do what I think you did," Souji demanded.

"Well would you look at that. It wasn't just blind luck last time." Adachi chuckled. "You and your friends are actually kind of smart once every other possibility is eliminated right in front of your eyes." Noting the card in Souji's hand, he held up one with a red, black, and white pattern in a stark contrast to Souji's blue. "Time to quit fucking around?"

"_Iza-"_

"_-nagi!"_

The red Persona flew forth, knocking its white counterpart back as Souji winced in sympathy. "Any time, Ted," he grunted.

As the two Personae locked blades, Teddie's voice cried out "Kamui!" The third Persona waved a claw, sending a wave of cold energy flying out into the street as Souji and Adachi's Personae flew back. Adachi's red Persona spun in the air, sending a Ziodyne straight into Kamui.

Teddie collapsed in pain as the Persona faded away. Adachi sneered. "So much for your pal, huh?" Magatsu Izanagi launched a Magarudyne at Souji, forcibly dismissing the Persona and sending the young man flying away. The older man cackled as he leapt through the air after him.

Souji's shoulder slammed into the side of a stone building, breaking chips off and landing in the middle of another street. Adachi seemed to fly over him, having overshot his jump. Souji rubbed at his now rather sore shoulder, looking around to see if he recognized where he'd landed. "Of course I'd land in front of a damn apartment." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a man backing away from something behind a building.

Brown hair, a silver ring in his right ear, and firing an SMG at something. The 'something' became slightly more clear as a tentacle reached around the building. The man shouted something Souji couldn't hear before emptying the clip into the tentacle.

Souji sighed. "There are some days I really hate this town." Marina fell to the ground a few feet away, cracking the ground around her. As she got up, Souji shouted, "Stay down, you might have hurt your spine!"

"The impact wasn't as bad as it looked, Arahabaki redirected the reactionary force back into the ground," she explained as she rubbed her head. "That you, Souji-san?"

"Yeah," he answered. "You sure you're alright Inoue?"

"Better, now that you're here. Good to see Shinji-kun was able to send help so quick." She looked around, disappointed to see that her weapon hadn't followed her over the building and onto the street. She unstrapped the sheathed short sword from her back and tossed it to Souji. "Sorry. The dossier Shinji let me look over said you prefer broadswords, but you can use a one-hander well enough too, right?" she asked as he snatched it out of the air.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Souji demanded. "He just told me he wanted me in the area because it was starting to become a hotspot. And as much as I'd like to help you with that thing, I've got my own problems to deal with at the moment."

"What could _possibly_ be more worthy of your attention than a shapeshifting monster currently in the form of an enormous mass of tentacles that have fangs?" Inoue shouted.

Souji pointed down the street with the sword and said, "That."

Adachi gripped at his head and shouted _"Joker!"_

Two cards appeared in front of Souji, and he responded to Adachi with a cry of "Valhalla!" as he cleaved through both cards. White light enveloped him as the Joker manifested above Adachi. A mostly black head, completely blank save a yellow eye inside a small splotch of white. A white right pectoral and arm, ending in a hand contorted into a clawed shape. The entirety of the black left arm was twisted, a gelatinous thing only vaguely resembling an actual arm except for a black claw matching the white one on the right. The hilt of a sword poked out of a hole in the black part of the chest, and it oozed sickly yellow pus. A piece of the black right thigh appeared to have been gouged out, but there was no indicator that it wasn't the natural form of the creature. The knees seemed reversed, but a second set straightened the calf and below parallel to the thighs. All along the outer side of the lowest part of the legs, yellow eyes ran in a line from the knees to ankles.

Souji drew his sword as Marina groaned, "This is just one of those days."

The Joker surged forward, swinging its right arm down over Souji's head. He shrugged the blow off, leaping up and kicking the Joker in the head to knock it back and bringing his sword down to cut off the offending limb. The Joker faded away, and Adachi stood still, calmly smiling. _'Something's wrong here. By all accounts, a Joker shouldn't have gone down so easy. Did Adachi not make the deal willingly? A forced possession that the Joker was weakened by trying to sustain?'_ Or was it a trap?

It didn't matter. With Valhalla, Adachi wouldn't be able to react quickly enough to save his own hide. If it was a trap, then Souji would kill the man who killed his friend. And if it was a full possession… He'd be able to claim the noble goal of 'freeing' him from the demon's control, and finally give the punishment he so deserved for what he'd done to those people.

Souji dashed forward, sword ready to strike. Seeing his approach, Adachi instinctively raised his left arm in an ultimately useless attempt to defend himself. The blade cut through the forearm, and Adachi's hand fell as Souji severed the man's neck. He knocked the severed hand off his foot, knelt down, and wiped the bloody sword off on Adachi's sweater. He turned back to Marina. "So how are we gonna deal with that bastard?" he asked as he jogged over to her.

"I don't suppose I'd be lucky enough that you have Lucifer on you, would I?" she asked.

The grey-haired young man had the wind knocked out of him as Valhalla ended. "Damn… I like the way you think," he panted. "But there's not a chance in Hell that I could manage to even _summon_ something on that scale after that, let alone help with what I think you're planning."

Marina reached into her oversized cargo pants and pulled out a thermos, handing it to Souji. "Chug that, then help Nanjo and Suzakuin with that son of a bitch. And stay ready."

As Marina began running back into the fray, Souji shouted, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm getting my spear back first!" Drawing on the strength of her Persona, Marina jumped up to the roof of a two-story building and jumped onto a flailing tentacle.

Souji grunted as he unscrewed the cap of the thermos. "What the hell is in here that she thinks'll get me ready to fight…" He gave the thick liquid inside a suspicious sniff, smiling as he recognized the scent. "I haven't seen a Soma for months!"

He drained half of the container, screwed the cap back on, shoved it into an enormous pocket, and ran around the corner to see what was going to get nuked.

He immediately wished he hadn't.

It would be easy to dismiss the thing as an enormous mass of tentacles that happened to have mouths near the tips. In fact, Souji likely would have left it at that if it weren't for the slight pressure he felt when looking at the apparent source of the writhing appendages. He _knew_ something was there, something he couldn't see.

As he saw the spectacled man in a leather jacket, Nanjo, if he'd read the report on the Jet-Alone Shinji provided correctly, summon his Persona to block a strike from the monstrosity, he realized what the pressure was. _'The Personae must be acting as some kind of natural censor, keeping me from acknowledging the true form of the thing and superimposing an image that I can accept but won't mitigate the apparent threat.'_

He'd have to conserve energy, and he didn't have a long-range weapon. Physical strikes only then. And he had just the Persona for the job. "Futsunushi!" The silver man in bandages flew forward, picking one of the blades out of the air around him and severing one of the tentacles in a spray of black ichor. The dying limb began to dissolve before it even hit the ground beside Souji. But in the middle of the pool, there was one very large chipped tooth, broken at the root almost like…

Souji smiled as he lifted the tooth of something likely older than the current universe, complete with a smaller piece that could be used to hold it as a sword. That would do nicely. Of course, it seemed less nice when he looked up to see a woman's leg disappear into one of several mouths.

"Shit! Rise, I don't know if you can hear me, and I know you're upset, but a lot of people that _can_ be saved are going to end up dead if Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, and Teddie don't get their asses down here _now!_"

There was no response as an appendage came at him from the side. He jumped over the fangs and stabbed it in the side, pinning it to the ground for Futsunushi to finish.

"_They're on their way,"_ came the eventual answer. _"I know that you did what you thought was right, and you did it to protect people, but we need to talk when this is over."_

Souji grunted as he rolled out of the way of the tentacle that ate Marina. "Fine." It would do him good to keep plans for what would happen after the fight, as if the worst possibility wasn't really possible. There would be something in his head besides the fear that he was only rushing the inevitable.

A bloody spear tore through the tentacle from inside, flying through the air and clattering to the ground beside Suzakuin. The man abandoned his empty automatic and lifted the spear, sending it flying into the mass and pinning it in place momentarily.

At the same same, Marina tore the opening in the monster open wider with her bare hands, emerging covered in gore and a few patches of her pants burned away. She leapt out as the tentacle began to retreat, coughing out blood that wasn't hers as she managed to shout, "Now!"

The two Persona Users each crushed a card in their hands, feeling an enormous drain of energy as they did so.

Suzakuin and Nanjo ran clear as The Lightbringer and The Adversary flew forth, drawing closer together as they neared the monster and bringing down Armageddon as they collided.

The exhausted pair exchanged a smile as the shockwave knocked them to the ground, laughing at the euphoria that came with channeling that level of power. The pulled themselves to their feet and looked at the billowing stack of smoke from the crater they'd made, secure in the knowledge that there was _no way_ that _anything_ could have survived that.

Of course, giant rampaging monsters, people being eaten by tentacles, and explosions that create a pillar of smoke that can be seen in the entire town don't go unnoticed, even in a small town like Inaba.

The crowd of police officers, EMTs, 'concerned' citizens, and firefighters beat Souji's friends to the seen by about two minutes. Souji was already beginning to take control of the situation, informing them of his 'official' occupation and producing very convincing credentials.

"You look kinda familiar," one of the police officers noted.

Souji rubbed the back of his head, playing the part of the somewhat embarrassed and less experienced man who 'knew' that he shouldn't have authority over these men who had quite obviously seen much more and much worse than he. "My uncle is Ryotaro Dojima, you might have seen me at the station a while back during the year I stayed with him and his daughter."

"And what were you doing down there?" the uniformed man asked.

"I may or may not have been involved in certain occurrences that might have involved the utilization of certain skills that were slightly less than legal to employ and allow me to do my well-paying job very well," Souji told the officer with a grin.

The officer subtly shifted his stance as he said, "I think maybe you should come down with me and have a little talk."

Souji groaned as he looked up. "Alright, let's try this again. I'm Souji Seta, Special Investigator for the UN. I have jurisdiction here. I was pursuing a suspected terrorist, and found the bastard hiding out in an empty part of town. The nutjob blew himself up, without hurting anyone, and the situation is Under. Control."

As something moved behind the smoke coverage, Marina shouted, "Look out!"

A burst of energy not dissimilar to a Drive flew through the air, cutting into Souji's shoulder and knocking him to the ground.

The former members of the Investigation Team began running as soon as they saw the attack, Yukiko rushing to Souji's side as the others moved to join the other Persona Users. She unbuttoned his shirt and pulled down the right side. The drive had cut clean through his shoulder, leaving a long wound in his shoulder. Long enough, in fact, that one would have to call a chest wound if they were being honest which, by God, _she was not going to be._ "You're going to be fine," she told him. "I just need to get your shoulder back into a single set of bones."

And figure out how to regrow a lung, quick.

"What've we got?" Yosuke asked Suzakuin.

"Skinwalker, scary fucking shapeshifter that can pull magic bullshit." Seeing that the police officers were beginning to open fire on the silhouette in the smoke, Jihin shouted, "Get out of here! Leave this fucker to us!"

The officers ignored the order, and died screaming in a blue blaze.

The smoke of the crater had begun to clear, and the dismembered but otherwise in very good shape form of Shinji Ikari stood with a black-sheathed katana hanging from a leather belt on his white pants. The Skinwalker smiled viciously as a ball of fire appeared in his hand. "Let's light it up."

* * *

Souji shot up with a deep breath, and immediately began coughing as he inhaled the smoke that filled the air. _"Please, stay down!" _Rise begged. _"Yukiko managed to get your lung working again, but you're still in no condition to fight!"_

"_Shit!"_ Souji swore as he slumped back down.

"Just try not to move," Yukiko whispered. The vital organ was working again, but Souji had lost a lot of blood and was still losing more.

And it was starting to come out more slowly.

Amaterasu floated above, glowing with white light and mending Souji's shoulder. He heard footsteps running up from behind him, accompanied by the whip of an arrow being shot. Maki Sonamura dropped her bow by his side and turned to Yukiko. "He's going to be fine now, he just needs a study flow of healing spells. I can handle that, you need to go help the others."

"But," she glanced down at Souji.

"Just go," he whispered. "They need you more than I do."

Yukiko nodded as Amaterasu faded away and she ran towards the sound of tearing flesh and screaming.

Souji's formerly blank face contorted in pain as he croaked out, "Does she know?"

Maki looked down with pained sympathy clear on her face. "She might on some level," she admitted. "But she won't admit it to herself."

"Well that's no good. Last time she did that we had to kill the caged bird," he quipped.

"_Wait, what are you talking about?"_ Rise asked.

"Don't worry about it," Souji said.

"I think I can get you moving long enough to get off one good strike, but-"

"Yeah, I know," he told her. "What can you tell me about that son of a bitch?" he asked Rise.

"_Nothing,"_ she moaned. _"It's like there's some kind of cloud, blocking me. And Kanzeon keeps trying to look away from it, like she doesn't want me to scan this thing."_

"I suppose that settles it," Souji said to himself. "Be ready to get as much information as you can on it, but be sure to look away quick."

Six blocks away, Rise realized what Souji was planning. Shaking, she stood and watched as Souji told Sonamura to help him up, and moving toward the battle. She saw Marina dive on top of Teddie to save him from a lightning bolt. Yosuke and Susano-O stood between the Skinwalker and Chie as Yukiko knitted the tendons of her ankle back together.

She saw Nanjo and Suzakuin send Yamaoka and Tam Lin to help them as the Skinwalker approached, but they were knocked away as it danced around Susano-O.

She saw Souji stumble into the fray, his left hand over his bleeding right shoulder and surrounded by a buildup of spiritual power.

She saw his right arm hang limply as he crushed a card in his left.

She saw Izanagi-no-Okami rise above him, and once again speak the Word of Truth, the Word of Power, that banishes the world's curses and falsehoods.

And then, nothing.

* * *

Souji screamed as the world fell around him. He looked at the monster, stripped of all its masks and disguises, and couldn't tell what he saw. Writhing masses of interconnected tentacles, eyes in between eyes, fungi spreading into the ground. The sky burned. The air became thick enough to drown upon and began to boil. The ground vanished beneath him.

No, this was just another trick.

He pushed more power into his Persona, into Myriad Truths, and saw what happened.

He saw the gaping maw of the monster open.

He saw Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko vanish before their eyes.

He saw the world rush forward.

He saw the ground rise up to meet his face.

And he saw a tiny, insignificantly small, crazily angled, ten-sided gem on a chain wrapped around a severed wrist.

He saw something within it shift, and felt it begin calling, pleading, offering.

And the world froze around him.

Souji found himself standing over his own body, which was between him and the Shining Trapezohedron, and looked around at the blue world around him as he heard the roar of an engine.

Something began to glow in his pocket with a furious light as a stretch limo stopped in front of him. He pulled out the glowing key, opened the door, and entered.

* * *

He found himself standing in a hall. Well, he called it a hall, but that was only because the place he was in was far too long, and wide, and high to be the interior of the car he'd just entered. However, aside from the increase in size, every other detail was exactly as it had bee, right down to the long-nosed man hunched over a table with a blue tablecloth.

"Welcome back, my dear young man."

Souji stomped over to Igor, grabbing at man's black tie and pulling him further over the table. "Unless you're about to give me enough power to turn back time and kill that fucker before it can lay one damned finger on my friends, I don't care what you have to say. So you'd better say what you want said by the time I get back to that door."

Souji released the tie and began walking back outside. Just as he reached the door, the elderly man said, "It was not I who called you here."

Without turning away from the door, Souji demanded, "Then who did?"

He felt a hand come down on his shoulder. He looked down to see a white glove, and followed it up the sleeve of a white jacket until his eyes came to rest on a man with graying brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, a white mask with a dark blue butterfly wing on the right side. _**"I did,"**_ echoed the booming baritone of the Master of the Psyche, True Lord of the Velvet Room, Granter of Personae, and the Wise Spirit Guide. _**"I don't believe we have ever actually met in person, though I have been observing you for years."**_

The masked man pushed Souji down into a seat, sitting himself down opposite him.

"_**Allow me to introduce myself. I am Philemon."**_ Souji felt his eyebrows rise. This was the being that had been guiding him, the same voice that informed him of Social Links, the one that had kept him from flailing about and grasping at whatever he could get a hold on after the dormant power of the Wild Card was awakened within him.

The one that had 'protected' him with these constant limitations, even now.

Souji rubbed at his knuckles as Philemon crossed his legs. _**"You are not the first to do that. I like to think I've learned to handle it better in recent years."**_ He leaned forward. _**"You have no doubt learned for yourself that I do not directly interfere. And usually, I am content to continue allowing you to make your own decisions and mistakes, learning from them and doing what must be done for humanity."**_ He hovered over Souji. _**"But I can tell you now, what you are about to do is a horrible mistake. Whatever it just offered you, it is not worth your soul."**_

Souji growled as he rose. "He offered me something you were never willing to give. He offered a lack of these limitations. All you ever seem content to do is give us just short of enough power to do what needs to be done, and then make us hope the stars line up just right, and some twist of fate comes along that will allow us to win. Well, let me tell you something. The stars don't line up like that that often. More often than not, people in that situation lose. But _he's_ offering me enough power and then some. He's offering me the power to protect the people I care about." He stood and began stomping to the door. "I'm sick of this bullshit."

"_**If you leave now, if you do this, there will be no turning back."**_

Without turning around, Souji told Philemon, "I wasn't planning on coming back." He reached into his pocket with one hand as he placed his hand on the door handle. "So you can keep your fucking key."

* * *

Souji's eyes snapped open and looked into the window on all space and time left by the Crawling Chaos. He felt it worm its way into his mind, and the power that accompanied it. He couldn't even imagine wanting to try resisting.

He embraced it.

Where there had been an exposed mass of wounded flesh around a ventilation feature biology had not intended to be present, there was only smooth, pale, unblemished skin.

Where his heart had been filled with sorrow, and self-loathing, and loss, and hopelessness, he felt only fury.

And it felt good.

All of his Personae, Thor, Odin, Lucifer, Metatron, Norn, Neptunus, Valkyrie, Ananta, Vishnu, even Izanagi, faded away, cast off with the feeling of power he drew from his Social Links. But that didn't matter. He could fill that void with whatever he wanted.

Nothing of his face remained save a smooth white surface, and the grin of one who had thrown away his sanity and found something more to his liking.

He pulled the gem off the severed stump stuffed it into his pocket as he began to run, reaching breakneck speeds within moments. His body was lighter, faster.

He jumped, puncturing through a scaly hide and ripping through to the other side of the creature, emerging in a spray of black blood.

The abomination turned as he cried out for something to fill the empty space left by the facets of his soul. "Amatsu-Mikaboshi!" The God of Evil blackened the sky with its mere presence, flinging a twinkling pair of stars into the abomination's eyes where they exploded, leaving a bloody stump in the creature that had towered over the city, falling to crush hundreds of buildings.

"No mercy."

With a sweep of his hand, Erebus, the Son of Chaos and Brother of the Night, Personification of Shadow, reached down from the heavens to lift the limp Skinwalker.

"And no regrets."

The Joker appeared behind the Skinwalker, thirteen enormous metal appendages wrapping around its legs and arms and torso, tips digging into its skin. Souji looked around, finding and picking up the naked blade of Juuchi Musamu. Dark energy swirled around the Muramasa as he jumped to the height of the abomination, projecting enough energy through the sword to cut the Skinwalker clean in two.

* * *

Black blood flooded through the streets of Inaba. Later reports would indicate that at least 2500 people drowned in it.

Others died as their homes burned, and emergency services were unable to save them.

Listed among the dead were Yosuke Hanamura, Chie Hanamura, Yukiko Amagi, Kei Nanjo, Tohru Adachi, and Shu Nakajima.

* * *

"_Please!_ Tell me there was something you could have done!"

If his face had been capable of it, Souji would have looked at Rise curiously. "Why are you upset with me? I killed Adachi, I ended a possession, and killed one of the most dangerous beings in existence without nuking it."

"Look at yourself!" She pleaded. "You've finished all of this, you can stop now!"

Souji frowned. "Stop what? Having power? Why would I? I finally have the power I need to tell gods and demons alike to fuck off, to give the arrogant ones the ass-kicking they so richly deserve. I can't just throw that away. I'm sorry."

As Souji turned away, he heard the voices of people approaching. "We need to have a little talk, Seta!"

"Sensei! Wait!"

He looked over his shoulder to see Rise, the love of his life, on her knees in tears and felt nothing. He began fading away as he said, "Goodbye."


End file.
